Running Into Walls
by She-Loved-Too-Easily
Summary: Bella is an outsider, a dreamer, not trusting people because of her past. When Edward meets her, he is determined to break through the walls she has build. But can he bring some reality into her fairytale world? AH. Rated T. BxE. Full summary inside.
1. Her Life

_Hey folks! :D_

_Guess who's back… Yeah, it's me, obviously. Who cares. xD_

_Alright, first, I'm going to bore you guys with a disclaimer, because it's necessary. _

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, therefore, I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. The title of this story is inspired by Lily Holbrook's song 'Running Into Walls', I don't own the song, I'm just borrowing the title. Glad that's all cleared up, let's move on people!**

_Full summary, if anyone is interested: _

_Bella is an outsider in high school, she doesn't trust people much because of events that happened in her past. She doesn't have friends and lives in her own world. When Edward meets her, he is determined to break through the walls that she has build. But can he bring some reality into her carefully composed world of fairytales? All Human. BxE. Rated T._

_So, here is chapter one. For the first week I can guarantee daily updates, after that it all depends on how much time and inspiration I have. ^^"_

_Enjoy!_

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**Her Life**

The cafeteria of Forks High School was a crowded place today, nothing new there. I hated crowded places, but I didn't have much of a choice. Seeing as the rain was pouring down outside like it normally did in Forks, having lunch there really wasn't an option. At least I had a lunch table all to myself, since most of my classmates and other fellow students were avoiding me, as usual. Not that I minded, it was my own choice to be avoided.

Ever since I had moved to Forks to live with my dad, Charlie, some years ago, it was my goal to become invisible. It had worked out well in my years on Forks middle school; maybe also because my boring appearance with brown hair and dull brown eyes was really helping. When I first went to high school this year, I had continued to make myself disappear into the background. It seemed that it was even easier here to disappear, it required some hard work to even be noticed by the other students. Becoming popular almost looked like a full time job to some people. People like Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory.

But not me, being the centre of attention was one of the things that I tried to avoid at all costs. I didn't like to be in the spotlight, I didn't even really like company. The thing with humans was that they were all so predictable, in a way. With every new person you came across there was one thing that you could be absolutely sure of; At some point, he or she was going to disappoint you. That's how I saw it anyway, call me a pessimist, but I liked to call myself a _realist_ when it came to my opinion on people in general_._ It was a whole different thing, or at least I thought so.

A loud giggle came from the table next to me. I looked up from my salad to see that Jessica and Lauren, who were sitting there with some other girls, were pointing and whispering to the entrance of the cafeteria. Ah, that's right, today was an 'exciting' day at Forks High. There were supposed to be three new students, the children of some rich doctor who had just moved to the small town of Forks. No big deal of course, but in a town where nothing ever happened, people were always desperately looking for something new. Anything at all.

At this exact moment, the new kids were walking into the lunchroom, curiously taking in their surroundings. The first one was a girl, she was very small, and had short, black, spiky hair. She was smiling, seeming almost excited to be here, even though I couldn't imagine why. The next one was a boy with dark, curly hair. He was tall and muscular, almost a little scary because he was so huge. The third one was also a boy, and he could only be described as 'beautiful'. His hair had a color that I would probably call 'bronze', and he was very pale, but it suited him.

It was obvious that these people weren't going to have a hard time, fitting in. They were already a novelty in this boring town, and all three of them looked nice, which was something that assured you of a place in the popular group. Again, humans were predictable, and it bothered me to no end.

I suddenly noticed Angela who was walking past my table, giving me a tentative smile and waving at me. I returned her smile without thinking, Angela was one of those rare 'good persons'. She was in some of my classes and she was a nice girl, respecting my wish for privacy but not completely ignoring me. For some reason, it didn't bother me so much to talk to her every now and then, not like it did when I had to talk to other people. I saw her walking over to a small table on the other side of the cafeteria, where her boyfriend Ben was sitting with his friends.

The new kids were walking over to an empty table, the three of them sitting down while they were quietly talking to each other. They were barely sitting in their chairs, but already the Hale twins were walking towards their table, along with Tanya Denali. Jasper and Rosalie Hale were pretty popular here at Forks High, probably also because they were very good looking. So was Tanya, who was often hanging out with them and the rest of the popular group. All of this was to be expected from the moment that the new kids had set a foot in Forks High, they were bound to become a part of the popular crowd.

Another loud giggle brought me out of my thoughts, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation that was taking place at the table next to me.

"Oh. My. God. You see the boy with the reddish brown hair? I want to get stuck in an elevator with him." I didn't have to look up from my lunch to know it was Jessica talking.

"Ooh, I would like to do much more with him than that." I recognized Lauren's nasal voice and rolled my eyes.

Was it even possible for people to be _this_ shallow? I doubted it, but Jessica and Lauren were doing an amazingly good job at proving me wrong.

"Forget it you guys, he is mine." A third voice chirped. I think this girl was named Katie, but I wasn't sure.

"I saw him first." Lauren said in a tone that was supposed to make it clear that there was no discussion on this particular subject.

"That's bullshit, I pointed him out to you!" Jessica objected, sounding offended.

"Whatever." Lauren spat back.

"We'll see who gets to him first." Katie said smugly, she sounded like she was convinced that it would be her.

"That would be Tanya Denali." Jessica stated flatly, bursting Katie's bubble.

Again I glanced over at the table where the new kids were sitting, and I noticed that Tanya was already practically sitting in his lap. The guy looked a little uneasy, but maybe I was just imagining that. Every guy that attended Forks High was after Tanya Denali, surely he wouldn't be any different.

"That bitch!" Lauren cursed. I didn't dare to look at her, but I could only imagine the death glare that was most definitely on her face right now.

"Let's make a plan to get to him." Katie suggested.

"I'm in." Jessica replied.

Lauren snorted. "Me too!"

The hostility between the girls was instantly gone, and they started to plot ways to get Tanya away from the 'hot guy', as they called him.

I was almost smiling at their idiotic behavior. Although I didn't like company, I _did_ like to observe people. These girls were unbelievable, fighting over some guy they didn't even know yet. A guy that might as well be a huge jerk or an airhead…

I swallowed the last bite of my salad, and searched my backpack for my notebook and a pen. The one thing that made my life a little more interesting was writing. I loved to write, and I'd already written a lot of stories. Most of them weren't realistic, it were love stories and fairytales that ended with the words 'happily ever after'.

Sure, I believed in the existence of love. In books and movies. Real life was a different thing. Maybe that was why I liked to write, you could create your own world. All the characters in your story were living the life that you had designed for them. They would never disappoint you or let you down, and when they did, it was simply your own fault.

I flipped my notebook open, and started writing. This was a story that I had been working on for some time now, and I was finally getting to the good part. The part where he confessed that he loved her. Also a good thing about writing, after the happily-ever-after-part, all was well. It didn't matter if the prince turned out to be an idiot after the 'I do', or if the marriage didn't work out so well, because you didn't get to see that part.

Oh, how I wished that I could write the whole world around me. Control the characters in the story of my life, making sure that they would be nice, interesting people. Not the shallow girls that were fighting over a guy, or about who was the most popular…

Charlie occasionally expressed his concern about me being a dreamer, and not having enough interaction with kids my age. I didn't want him to worry about me, but also couldn't find the motivation to make friends in order to put up a show for his sake. I was content the way I was, on my own, trying to survive high school and hopefully, one day becoming a great writer.

The bell rang, announcing that lunch break was over. I saw how Jessica, Lauren and Katie were simultaneously jumping up from their chairs, swiftly running in the direction of the new kids. I snorted as I put away my notebook, and picked up my lunch tray and backpack.

When I'd dumped my tray, I followed the stream of students who were leaving the cafeteria, in order to go to my next class, Biology. It so happened that Jessica, Lauren and Katie were walking right in front of me, the guy with the bronze hair walking with them. Lauren was clinging to his arm and all three of them were overwhelming him with questions. From what I could tell, he didn't look very comfortable.

"So what's your name?" Lauren purred, I think she was trying to sound seductive.

It was hilarious how they were attacking the guy like a couple of vultures. Tanya was nowhere to be seen, I guessed that they had already gotten rid of her. I briefly wondered how the three of them had managed to get her away from him, it wouldn't be the first time that someone got locked up in the janitor's closet.

"My name is Edward Cullen." The boy answered. His tone was polite, and his voice sounded rather musical.

"What a beautiful name, it suits you!" Jessica said in a high voice.

"Yes, it's gorgeous, like you." Katie added.

I couldn't keep in another loud snort at their too obvious attempts to seduce the guy. Unfortunately it was a little _too_ loud. The three girls turned around and eyed me with disdainful looks. Lauren was still holding Edward's arm in a firm grip, and he had no choice but to turn around, too.

"Did you just laugh at us, invisible girl?" Lauren asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"No, you're not _that_ funny." I retorted.

Jessica's jaw dropped in disbelief, and Katie let out a small "Oh!"

The three of them were throwing me deadly glares, but the guy named Edward didn't have a hateful look on his face. His expression was rather amused, and he looked at me as if he were looking at an interesting statue in a museum.

"Are you trying to insult us?" Jessica asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, nothing gets past you." I muttered.

The looks on their arrogant faces were astonished, but it surprised me that the Edward-guy was chuckling. "Okay, let's leave the girl alone." He suggested, giving me an uneven smile.

"I can handle this myself, thank you very much." I snapped at him in a reflex, showing him that this girl wasn't going to fall down at his feet.

He raised his perfect eyebrows but shrugged. "Fine, whatever you want." He muttered, before turning around.

The girls were throwing me some last wary looks, before turning around and following him like a group of loyal Golden Retrievers.

Yep, this was a typical day at Forks High. No need to ask why I wasn't actually excited to spend most of my time here…

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_Thank you for reading, a new chapter will be up tomorrow! :D_


	2. The Beginning Of Her Story

_Wow, thank you so much for reviewing;_** Jess, Porcelain-Shadow, Lizzy, Annatwilightfan, Gnomegirl13**_ and _**Lauren! **_I'm glad you guys are all enthusiastic about my new story! =D_

_Also, a general warning to everyone who is reading this story, English is not my first language, I'm Dutch, so don't be too hard on me. (a) I am trying my best, of course, and Spell Check is my best friend. xD_

_Alright, chapter two, have fun!_

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**The Beginning Of Her Story**

I entered the Biology classroom and walked up to my desk. With me being invisible, no one ever sat next to me, and so I dropped my books on the empty desk next to mine. I sat down and waited for the teacher to start class, when I noticed Edward walking into the classroom, and approaching Mr. Banner, who was searching through some papers that were on his desk.

He looked up when Edward spoke to him, and the two of them had a quiet conversation. Mr. Banner pointed to where I was sitting, and I knew what that meant. With an annoyed sigh I gathered my books and placed them on my own desk.

I started to doodle on my notebook, never taking my eyes off of my desk. I heard him sitting down next to me, but kept myself preoccupied, aimlessly drawing figures. To my surprise, that didn't discourage Edward.

"Hello, I didn't introduce myself when we met earlier, I'm Edward." He spoke in a gentle, velvety voice.

I wasn't one to start a conversation, but plainly ignoring people was also not my style. "Hi, I'm Bella." I kept my reply short… As short as it could possibly be without me sounding rude.

"Hey… those girls… are they often being mean to you?" He asked right away, sounding a little concerned.

I hadn't expected that, and involuntarily I turned my head to look at him. Now that he was closer to me I noticed his eyes, they were emerald green. He was staring at me, probably waiting for me to answer his question. "No. Normally people don't bother me, in case no one has told you yet, I am the invisible girl. I'm not being bullied, I'm being ignored." I decided to share this fact with him, he would find out sooner or later.

"Well that's weird…" He mused.

"Weird how?" I demanded.

He smirked. "You don't look invisible to me, I can see you quite clearly."

I frowned, wondering if I should bother to give him an explanation, but then the teacher decided to start class. He was probably just teasing me anyway, he knew perfectly well what I'd meant when I'd said invisible.

Mr. Banner handed out some sheets with assignments, announcing that we had this hour to solve the questions in front of us, together with our partners. Just my luck. We frequently had to work in groups of two, but usually I just stayed alone. This time however, I didn't have a choice.

For a split second I had a small shred of hope left that Edward was the type of person who also liked to work alone. No such luck.

"Are you going to talk to me or are we going to use sign language? I'm also an expert when it comes to smoke signals." Again he didn't sound annoyed, he sounded amused.

"Right, let's get it over with." I said reluctantly.

"Good!" He replied cheerfully, deliberately ignoring my lack of enthusiasm.

"Okay, first question…" I muttered, not moving my gaze from the questions on the sheet.

We were finished in no time. I knew most of the answers because I had a very slow social life and too much free time, and Edward… well I guessed he was just a smart guy. Since we were finished, I turned my attention back to my notebook, doodling again.

"So that's it, you're back to ignoring me?" He asked, his tone genuinely interested.

"Don't take it personally, I'm just not a people person." Hopefully he would get the point now, without thinking that it had something to do with him in particular.

"Oh I see… You can't have met a lot of decent people then." He concluded.

Urgh, why couldn't he let it go? What was annoying me the most was that he was partly right. Before I had moved to Forks there were more than enough people in my life that were far from decent. Not that it was any of his business.

"I'll take your silence as a confirmation." Edward said after a long moment. "But I can understand that you don't want to talk about that to a total stranger." He added.

"That's right." Again my reply was short.

"So let's talk about something else." He suggested. This guy really didn't get the point. Or he was just acting like he didn't get it.

I gave up. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"

I looked at him from the corner of my eye and he was smiling smugly. "I don't care... What do you like to do in your free time?"

At least that was an easy question. "Writing." I answered, not giving away any more information than courtesy demanded.

Of course he wouldn't settle for my answer that consisted of one small word. "Really? Cool, what do you write?"

"All kinds of stuff."

He snorted. "Stuff… great."

I nodded.

"Yeah, stuff is a wonderful thing to write about." He mumbled, it seemed like he was finally discouraged.

For some reason that was beyond me, I almost felt _sorry_, for being so rude to him. Although I definitely didn't want to share my life story with this beautiful stranger, maybe it would be polite to ask him something about his…

If there was one thing that I never bothered to do, it was making small talk. So why was I doing it now? "What about you… What do you like to do… in your free time?"

His head snapped up immediately and he gave me that uneven smile again. "I like to make music… especially playing piano. Sometimes, I compose my own music, though I'm not very good at that."

"Oh… wow." Was all I could manage. His answer had surprised me, and I guessed that my face gave me away.

He grinned, showing a pair of perfectly white teeth. "Not what you expected?"

"Not really." I admitted. "I expected an answer along the lines of 'partying and getting drunk'."

He rolled his eyes. "Does that mean that I make a very bad first impression, or that you are a little judgmental?"

"Touché." I muttered. I realized what I'd just done, judging him before even knowing him. Something I hated about other people when they did that, and now I was doing it myself.

"It's fine." He assured me before I could decide whether to apologize or not. "I guess I do fit the description of the partying-type."

"Maybe… but still, that wasn't nice of me." Why did it seem so important to me, apologizing to this guy that I hardly knew? "It's great that you compose your own music, though." I meant what I said, it was pretty impressive.

"Thanks, but I wasn't lying when I told you that it's not that good."

Before I could respond to that, the bell rang, and people around me were starting to gather their books. This class had already ended? It didn't feel like an hour had passed.

"What's your next class?" Edward asked suddenly.

I groaned. "Urgh, gym."

"Not a big fan of sports?" He guessed.

"No, you've never seen me in gym. I usually hurt myself, or others." I confessed.

He frowned. "Oh… try to be careful then. Well, I have to get to Spanish… I'll see you later."

"Right, bye." I whispered.

He gave me one last smile before heading out of the Biology classroom.

What the hell had just happened? Me, making conversation with someone who was a total stranger to me. That was very unlike me, usually I didn't care that people wanted to chat with me, I would try to cut the conversation off as soon as possible. And I would most definitely _never_ try to restart it after I had succeeded at ending it with some of my short, uninterested replies.

I reacted the same way to everyone who was trying to strike up a conversation, no exceptions. And that made me wonder, why had this time been different? Or maybe the question should be: Why had _this boy_, been different?

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_That's it for today, a new chapter will be up tomorrow! :D_


	3. The Threat

_Hey everyone! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Lizzy, Porcelain-Shadow, Hannah, Jess** _and_ **Gnomegirl13!** _You guys rock!_ _*Hands out digital chocolate cake to all her reviewers*  
Also thank you, to all the other people who are reading this!_

_To Hannah: Lol, no review is too short, or long, or insignificant, or whatever. xD I'm just really grateful that all of you take the time to read and review this story!_

_And I'm glad that my English isn't bothering anyone. xD _

_Alright, here is chapter three!_

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**The Threat**

Gym was the usual torture. Coach Clapp made us play badminton today, and after only ten minutes I had already managed to whack three of my fellow students with my racket. When class ended, I had injured a total of seven people, including myself and the coach. He didn't seem too happy, but by now he had gotten used to my clumsy actions.

The school day had finally ended, and after changing I rushed towards the parking lot, heading for my old truck. Everyone around here thought that my rusty, red truck was a joke, but I liked it. It had a certain charm, and it would have a good chance of surviving in a crash.

I pulled the door handle, but before I could get inside, I heard a small cough behind me. I automatically turned around, to notice Lauren and Jessica, standing at the back of my truck, eyeing me with angry looks on their faces.

"Can I help you?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, maybe you can,_ invisible girl_." Lauren replied, emphasizing the last two words.

I rolled my eyes at them. "If I'm that invisible, why are you even talking to me?"

Jessica decided to break in. "I think the question should be; If you are that invisible, _why_ are you talking to Edward Cullen?"

Talking to Edward Cullen… I had only talked to him in Biology, right? "Because he was my Biology partner, and I didn't have much of a choice." I stated simply.

"That is what you want us to think." Lauren objected. "I sat next to Tyler, only one desk from where you were sitting. I could tell that the conversation wasn't all about Biology."

Busted. Wait, why would I feel guilty about that, what was their problem?

Before I could ask, Jessica opened her mouth again. "Don't you think it's a bit conspicuous, that you suddenly start to act all friendly and normal when a hot guy shows up?"

I let out an annoyed sigh. "Look, why don't you just get to the point, and tell me what the problem is here?"

"There won't be any problems at all, because you are going to stay away from Edward." Lauren stated confidently.

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Were they seriously thinking that _I_ was a threat to them? I could imagine why they wanted the beautiful and popular Tanya Denali out of the way, but the invisible, plain Bella Swan… Where was the point in that? Not that it mattered, they could have him for all I cared, why on earth were they thinking that I would suddenly join Girl Wars?

"Look, I don't know what you people are implying, but you can have Edward Cullen. I hope you'll have a lot of fun with him." I said sarcastically. "Now if you'll excuse me, I didn't plan on staying here in the parking lot for the rest of the afternoon."

Jessica and Lauren both glared as I got into my truck.

Lauren decided to shout one last threat after me before I slammed the door shut. "If we see you talking to him again, we'll make sure you won't be invisible anymore, and not in a good way!"

xxx

Thoughts were running through my head as I drove away from Forks High, in the general direction of the supermarket. I did most of the grocery shopping and the cooking, seeing as my dad wasn't a very good cook, and I even sort of liked cooking. I mindlessly walked around the store, every now and then throwing something into my cart, letting my thoughts drift away again.

Jessica's and Lauren's threat was still fresh in my memory, and it wasn't until now that I realized how absurd this whole situation was. I was never, _ever_ included in things like this, because it was my own _choice_ to stay out of them. It seemed that the arrival of this Edward had unleashed a war in Girl World. Something huge had to be going on, since even an outsider like me was being unwillingly involved now. I couldn't really understand why. Sure, he was good-looking, okay more than that, he was gorgeous. But Forks High had a lot of guys that were considered good-looking by the female students. Like Mike Newton, who was quite popular, or Tyler Crowly…

"That's twenty-five fifty please." The girl behind the checkout counter pulled me out of my thoughts.

I paid and headed home as fast as my old truck allowed. Charlie wasn't home yet, so I stored the groceries in the small closet under the sink, before going to my room in order to do my homework. Around five I started to make dinner, and when Charlie got home he smiled appreciatively as he smelled the fish fry.

"Smells great, Bells."

I smiled. "Thanks. How was work?"

Charlie was one of the few people that I didn't mind talking to, maybe because I knew that he would never let me down. Our relationship didn't seem that close, but I could always count on him, and he was always there for me, which meant a great deal to me. He wasn't much of a talker either, just like me, but we usually talked about our day during dinner.

"Not much action in the quiet town of Forks today, we spent most of the day playing cards." He admitted as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Playing cards, figures." I said with a small snort, while placing the plates with fish fry on the table.

"Yeah well, we have to do something to stay awake." He said with a grin. "So, how was school? Did you meet the new kids?" He added before he started to eat.

News traveled fast in this small town, of course Charlie would know about Dr. Cullen's kids attending Forks High. "Sure… I saw them. One of them sat next to me in Biology."

"And, are they nice?"

"I've only really talked to Edward Cullen, but he seemed nice enough." I confessed.

"Wow, he must be, if you voluntarily talked to him." Charlie said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered.

"I'm sorry kid, I just think it would be good for you to have some friends…"

"I'm fine, dad, really." I assured him for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, I know… it's just that a little social interacting would do you good."

I decided to let it go; we had talked about this many times, and I thought that it was time for us to agree to disagree when it came to this subject.

After we'd finished eating, I did the dishes before going back to my room to finish the rest of my homework, in order to go to bed. Yep, my life sounded very boring, probably because it actually _was_ very boring...

I couldn't sleep though, and I decided to switch on my old computer, planning to work on my story for a bit.

It was silly, really, if you thought about it. It was a story about a girl who fell in love with a hundred-year-old vampire. Okay, maybe that sounded gross… but he was a very nice vampire. And sweet, and caring, and beautiful. But most importantly, he didn't kill humans, he only drank animal blood. The vampire, called Damian, was nothing like the guys that were walking the face of earth nowadays. A perfect gentleman who still opened the door for you. The girl in this story, Elizabeth, was one lucky girl. I would trade places with her any day...

I kept writing until I was too tired to keep my eyes open. I switched off the computer and went to bed, immediately slipping into unconsciousness, dreaming about someone who was just a stupid figment of my own imagination.

xxx

The next morning it was raining, again. I took a shower and got dressed, and after that I ate some cornflakes for breakfast. I flinched when I stepped out of the house, into the drizzling rain. I hated the weather in Forks, big time.

I arrived a little too early and parked my car in the still empty parking lot. The rain wasn't exactly welcoming, so I decided to stay inside my truck to look at some of my trig homework, since I had some difficulties with this particular class.

I didn't know how long I had been sitting there, when I heard a short tap against my window. I looked up to spot Katie. I sighed and put my books away before getting out of the truck, to see what she wanted from me.

Katie didn't bother to put up a polite charade, and came straight to the point. "I heard that you tried to seduce Edward Cullen the other day, I wouldn't do that if I were you." She warned in a menacing voice.

I frowned at another threat that was addressed to me. Did she even know that there was an essential difference between talking and seducing? "You're too late, Jessica and Lauren beat you to the punch, yesterday." I informed her.

"I know, Jess told me, but still… stay away from him." She repeated her threat in a hissing voice, as if she were afraid she hadn't made herself clear after the first time.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I've told your friends, you can have him, I don't want him." I said with an exasperated sigh.

"You don't want who?" I almost jumped up when a chipper voice suddenly sounded from behind me.

I turned my head to see the pixie-like girl with the spiky hair, Edward's sister. _Perfect, someone kill me now._

I deliberated for a second. "Your brother." I finally answered with a shrug. Might as well be honest with her.

Katie gaped at me and rolled her eyes before departing. "Remember what I said." She called in an innocent voice while she walked away.

"Was she annoying you?" Edward's sister asked.

I snorted. "No more than usual."

"Oh… she did have this evil look on her face, that's why I came over here. My name is Alice by the way, Alice Cullen." She reached out her hand as she introduced herself.

"Bella Swan." I told her, tentatively shaking her hand.

"Ah yeah, you sit next to Edward in Biology, right? Are you guys friends?" Alice asked.

"No, not really, he's more like an acquaintance." I explained, wondering how she could possibly know that he sat next to me. Did that mean that he had mentioned me? Why would he do that?

"Ah, an acquaintance." She mused. "Well, that will change soon enough." She added in a tone like it was a fact.

I threw her a questioning look but she just grinned. "Trust me, I know. I think Edward and you are going to be good friends. And we will become good friends, too, for that matter."

I wanted to tell her that she shouldn't hold her breath, but for some reason, I couldn't be unfriendly to this nice, enthusiastic girl. "We'll see." I mumbled.

"Yes, we will. Oh, and don't let those bitches get to you, don't do what they order you to do." She said with a knowing smile.

"Right, thanks." Was my lame reply.

"We should get to class, I'll talk to you later." Alice said, giving me one last smile.

"Okay… bye."

What was it with these Cullen kids? Alice had accomplished the same thing as her brother, she had started a conversation with me, and it didn't bother me in the slightest. Although I wasn't sure what she had meant when she'd said she was sure that we would all become great friends… But something in her tone had convinced me that maybe, there was some sort of truth in her words, as unlikely as it had sounded to me at the moment...

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_Thanks for reading, new chapter tomorrow! =D  
_


	4. Becoming Visible

_Hey people! =D_

_Thank you for reviewing *takes deep breath*;_ **Porcelain-Shadow, Jess, Pixie freak, Hannah, RangerRainbow, Lizzy, Marian Hood, Gnomegirl13, AngelaK779** _and_ **Penny!  
**_Free digital muffins for everyone! =D Oh, and a free digital Emmett for Lizzy. xD_

_All of your enthusiastic, chipper and positive reviews are making me happy, you guys make my day!_

_Alright, new chapter… you were right Jess, more Bella/Edward in this chapter, and Bella also briefly meets another Cullen…_

_Have fun!_

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**Becoming Visible**

Twenty-four hours… that short amount of time seemed to be all it took to turn my life around completely. Two days ago, I had been completely invisible and ignored. Today, all of the sudden I was subjected to both negative and positive attention. I had never expected that the arrival of the new kids would have any effect at all on me, but it did, and I wasn't sure if I was too happy about it. Being ignored was easy, safe… This was something different altogether. I wasn't just observing this soap opera called 'high school' anymore, I was playing a part in it. I had no idea that even more changes were coming up, until lunch break arrived…

I was sitting at my usual table, rereading the last chapter of my story while nibbling on a slice of pizza. Nothing weird so far... Until I heard the chair across from me scraping against the floor. My head snapped up and I saw Alice, who was dumping her lunch tray and some books on the table, before sinking down into the chair.

"Hey! Urgh, can you believe that Mr. Varner? You know, the trig teacher, that dude is a serious pain in the ass! All I ask of him, is to explain assignment three in a _simple _and_ logical_ way, but apparently he isn't familiar with the meaning of the words simple and logical! I mean seriously, how hard can it be…"

I stared at her as she ranted on and on about Mr. Varner. No one ever sat at my table, no one bothered, and Alice had just joined me as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It should've annoyed me, that she had just invited herself to sit with me, but for some reason it didn't…

"Oh god no!" She gasped, probably taking in the confused expression on my face. "He's not family, right? It would be awkward if I was ranting about your uncle, or something like that." She rambled, not realizing that it was her behavior that was the main reason behind my confusion.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "No, he's definitely not family, and if he were I would never acknowledge it."

Alice grinned, and picked up her sandwich. "Good! So, how was your day so far?"

I thought about that for a second. I wasn't used to anyone asking me that question, except Charlie maybe. "Ehm, fine. Hey aren't you sitting with… your family?" I was genuinely interested to hear why she would voluntarily sit with me.

"Not today, I have no idea where Edward is, and Emmett is too busy hitting on some blonde girl. Well actually, he calls it a _lunch date_." Alice rolled her eyes and made quotation marks in the air when she said 'lunch date'. She pointed to the other side of the room, where her huge, bulky brother was sitting at a small table, with no one other than Rosalie Hale.

"Wow Rosalie Hale…" I muttered.

"Right, we'll see, I'm really curious how that will turn out." She said in a skeptical tone.

I noticed that Emmett was getting up from his chair, and heading for the counter with food, before changing his mind and walking towards where Alice and I were sitting.

Alice raised her eyebrows and shrugged as her brother came to a stop right in front of our table. "Hey sis! Hey Alice's friend!" He said enthusiastically in a booming voice.

Alice smacked his arm and gestured to me with her hand. "Emmett, this is Bella."

"Nice to meet you, Bella!" He said cheerfully, grinning at me.

"Yes, it's a pleasure…" I replied hesitantly.

"So sis…" He started as he turned to Alice again, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I was buying Rosie lunch but I… sort of forgot my wallet…" He trailed off suggestively.

"You _sort of_ forgot your wallet? Free translation; Please lend me some money, Alice." She said teasingly.

"Please sis, I'll pay you back tomorrow, I promise." He gave her some very convincing puppy eyes.

Alice sighed in defeat and grabbed her wallet out of her bag, handing him some money. "Alright, now go get the girl!" She said with a smirk.

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "That won't be a problem. See you guys later!" He called over his shoulder, before stalking off to the food counter for the second time.

"Well, that was my lovely and subtle brother Emmett." Alice stated unnecessarily, making a face.

"Hmm yeah, he seems nice…"

"He is nice, most of the time at least." She said with a wink, before her eyes drifted off to my notebook. "What are you writing?"

"Oh, just a story, nothing interesting." I mumbled dismissively.

She looked at me in awe. "Really, what is it about?"

Before I could think of a subtle way to answer her, someone else answered for me…

"I believe it is about stuff." The musical voice said.

I looked up to see Edward, who was all of the sudden standing behind Alice, carrying his own lunch tray. He smiled at me before sitting down on the chair next to Alice.

"Stuff?" Alice mused. "That's very random."

"I'm sure that it's great." Edward said, almost sounding defensive.

"Wow, easy there, I never said it wasn't good." Alice retorted, frowning.

I felt a little uneasy as I watched the two siblings bicker. I was a little shocked that all the Cullen kids seemed totally oblivious to my invisible act. It was as if there suddenly was some huge sign hanging over my lunch table that said: _Please sit with me!_

"So where is Emmett?" Edward wondered out loud.

"Over there." Alice responded, pointing out the place where Rosalie and Emmett were sitting, this time with a tray of food in the middle of the table.

Edward snorted. "Figures, three days in Forks and he's already chasing after a girl."

"Look who's talking." Alice whispered, in a voice that I probably wasn't supposed to hear, since Edward shot her a dark look.

I guessed that it meant that Edward was after Tanya Denali, just like I had predicted. Why were people so predictable? It takes all the fun out of life. One thing was beyond me, though. Because _why _wouldn't I be allowed to hear that? _Everyone_ was after Tanya, Edward had nothing to be ashamed of, he was a regular male, falling for the blonde homecoming queen.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the bell rang, announcing that it was time to go to Biology. I gathered my stuff and picked up my empty tray. Alice and Edward were following my example.

"Alright, I have to get to English, see you later Bella! Bye Edward!" Alice said, before walking towards the exit of the crowded cafeteria.

"Right, see you." I called, hesitantly looking back at Edward once Alice was out of sight.

He gave me a reassuring smile. "We should get to Biology, or we'll be late." He said.

"Yes, we should." Was my pathetic response.

When we reached the entrance of the classroom Edward gestured for me to go first. "Ladies first." He stated simply.

I had to suppress a laugh. Did he actually just say that? "Thanks." I said when I was able to compose my face. I looked up at him and he smiled crookedly.

"You're welcome." He replied, looking intently at me with those piercing, green eyes.

It made my heart jump… What was this guy trying to do to me?

The rest of the class he didn't get a chance to talk to me, Mr. Banner was mostly explaining the new chapter. However, when class ended, Edward immediately grasped the opportunity to speak to me.

"Hey… about my sister… I know she likes to invite herself into other people's lives, but if that bothers you, just say so. I can sense that you appreciate your privacy, if Alice is annoying you, don't be afraid to tell her." He sounded almost concerned.

What should I tell him? That I believed that every new person I met was likely to disappoint me sooner or later? I would sound like a freak. Wait, why would I even care if he thought I was a freak? This was getting more and more confusing every day.

"It's fine, she seems like a nice girl. It's okay if she wants to sit with me at lunch." Where did those words come from? The scariest thing was that it almost felt as if I meant it. Alice did seem like a really nice person. _And so does Edward_; an annoying voice in my head shouted.

"Alright then… So… good luck at gym." He said with a grin.

"Thanks a lot. I'll try not to kill anyone." I made a face and he smirked.

"I'll see you later, bye Bella."

"Bye… Edward."

During gym I had an even harder time concentrating than I usually did. Again, I was thinking about the huge changes in my life, the biggest change being me becoming visible. I wondered if it was a good thing, or a bad thing. When the horrible class finally came to an end, I was coming to the conclusion that maybe, it was a _good thing. _

Too bad that I didn't know yet that something would soon remind me of the fact that there were more than enough negative sides to the new developments in my life…

* * *

_Oh god, I realized just now that it's another cliffhanger, please don't kill me. xD Look at it this way; if you kill me, I won't be able to update anymore. (a) *Is trying to save her butt*_

_New update tomorrow, stay tuned. =D_


	5. The Consequences

_Hi everybody! :D_

_Wow, thank you all so much! I did mention that all those reviews make me very happy, right? :p_

_So special thanks to; _**RangerRainbow, Jess, Hannah, Porcelain-Shadow, Music of the Wind, Annatwilightfan, Lizzy, Marian Hood, Maltesers007, Crispy Anakin, Bluemaybits, :)** _and_ **Penny!**

_*Hugs all her reviewers*_

_Free digital brownies for everyone! And a digital Emmett for Porcelain-Shadow, of course. :p _

_Everyone is free to request digital somethings, so knock yourself out! xD (IPods, pancakes, chocolate-covered-Edwards, you name it.)_

_Alright… what else did I want to say… xD Ah, someone asked if everyone is human in this story, and yes, they're all human. The only vampires in this story will be the ones in the story that Bella is writing. :p_

_And also… someone mentioned a typo in the first chapter; yeah typos are my specialty. :p I've edited it, thank you for telling me!_

_Okay, that's all folks, enjoy chapter five! :D_

* * *

**The Consequences**

"Aaahw crap! Could this get any worse!" I cursed out loud as I stared at the front tires of my truck.

Someone had stabbed them, and at this point, it wasn't hard to guess who had done it. The little yellow note that was sticking to one of the deflated tires, confirmed my suspicion. _'You didn't stay away from him…'_, it said.

Great! I knew what this meant, thirty minutes of walking in the pouring rain to get home. _Thanks a lot, Edward Cullen! I was perfectly fine until you showed up! Why don't you just go back to where you came from…_

"Bella?"

I groaned in irritation as I heard his velvety voice. _Or just go ahead and keep bugging me!_

"No it's not me, it is my identical twin sister." I muttered sarcastically.

He sighed and glanced warily at my deflated tires. "Nice try, who did that to you?"

Shit! I had to hide that note… Unfortunately he noticed it right away, which wasn't hard since it was bright yellow, and he pulled it from the tire.

"Stay away from who?" He asked in a flat tone.

I swallowed loudly, it was clear that there was no point in lying. "You…" I mumbled.

"What!? Are they nuts? Who are they anyway?" He sounded angry, and his usually friendly, green eyes turned dark.

"I can't tell you, it'll only make things worse. They… they're just jealous I think, you know, because I sit next to you in Biology. I guess they also saw that you were sitting with me at lunch…" I explained.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Edward replied angrily.

"Perhaps… but it's still true. So if you don't mind… I'd rather you stayed away from me…" I was whispering the last part, afraid of his reaction.

"Because a couple of skanks are ordering you to?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's not just that, Edward… I don't mind being invisible, that's the way I live my life, easy and safe. And it has always worked out fine, but since you came here, suddenly I'm threatened by bimbos, I have to mind my every action… That's not what I want." I hoped that my explanation made some sense to him.

His lips were pressed into a hard line and he almost looked… hurt. "Fine… if that is what you want, I'll keep my distance." He said after a while.

"Thanks." I said sincerely.

"But please let me drive you home…" He requested.

I deliberated for a moment. Surely it wouldn't look good if I left Forks High in Edward Cullen's car… That would get me into even more trouble. On the other hand… the parking lot was almost empty by now, and the thought of walking home wasn't very inviting…

"Alright then…" I gave in.

"Good." He said, his voice emotionless, before walking ahead to lead me to his car.

He stopped in front of a shiny, silver, Volvo. I was confused for a moment when he walked over to the passenger side. Did he expect me to drive this thing? His intentions became clear when he opened the door and gestured for me to go inside.

The surprise on my face must have been pretty obvious, because he raised his eyebrows and threw me a question look. "What?"

"Nothing…" I muttered as I got in. I would never have guessed that there were still guys in _existence_, who opened a door for a girl. "Thank you."

He frowned before walking around the front of the car and sliding into the driver's seat. He started the engine, and something that was unmistakably classical music came out of the speakers as he drove out of the parking lot. What was with this guy? He was supposed to fool around with girls, listen to pop music and not have any manners. That was how normal boys his age acted, but he seemed oblivious to the unwritten rules of behavior for teenage boys. One thing was for sure, he was definitely _not _predictable.

"What are you thinking?" Although his voice was soft, it startled me.

"Nothing."

"Oh… you seemed so deep in thought." He commented.

"Hmm, nothing worth mentioning." I assured him.

The look on his pale face told me that he was far from agreeing with me, but he let it go and changed the subject. "Where do you live?"

"Oh… right." I gave him the address and he nodded.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence, and I gathered my things when he stopped in front of Charlie's small house.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow…" He said in a low voice. "At least, from a distance…" He added with a grimace.

I felt a lot of guilt... He was the new kid, trying to make friends, and I had basically told him that I didn't want to be his friend. On the other hand, I was sure that more than enough other students were very willing to be his friend. Not that I thought he deserved fake friends like Lauren and Jessica, or Tanya…

"You still sit next to me in Biology." I reminded him, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, I guess so." He agreed. He attempted to smile, but he didn't look like he was feeling happy. Not at all.

"Thanks for the ride… I'm sorry… Bye, Edward."

He nodded. "You're welcome. Goodbye Bella, take care."

I got out of his car and headed straight for the front door, not daring to look back. I felt horrible, and I couldn't even grasp why. I was sure that it was the guilt, I felt terrible for being unfriendly towards someone who had been genuinely nice to me. That had to be it...

I tried to keep myself busy with homework and preparing dinner, in order to forget about this whole situation. Unfortunately, I had also forgotten about another problem that I had to face within now and one hour. Charlie would immediately notice that my truck wasn't parked in the driveway when he got home, and he would ask me _why_. So I had less than an hour to come up with a well rehearsed story about what had happened to my tires…

I put some extra effort into tonight's meal, hoping that it would have a positive influence on my dad's mood. When I had about ten minutes left, I decided to go with a simple excuse. Something along the lines of: _I don't know who did it dad, it happened during the school day, probably just some kids who were trying to pull a joke. _Maybe accompanied by a short lecture on the growing amount of vandalism in the town of Forks. The vandalism that was non-existing in this boring town, but who cares, I had to try something. Everything was better than telling Charlie about the fact that I was included in some useless war between teenage girls; it would make him worry even more than he already did…

"I'm home!" Charlie's voice sounded from the direction of the front door.

I flinched involuntarily. This was going to be a problem, lying was not one of my talents, I couldn't lie to save my life. "Hey, dad. How's it going?" My voice sounded too high.

"Great!" He said cheerfully as he sat down at the kitchen table. It seemed that he was already in a good mood, the universe was with me tonight.

"Great…" I repeated nervously, placing the plates with lasagna on the table. A small part of me was still hoping that he wouldn't bring up the car, as unlikely as that would be.

"Hey Bells, where is your car?" _Farewell, last shred of hope._

Busted. Totally busted. _Deny everything! _No, this wasn't a crime show, I didn't stand a chance whatsoever to get out of this. The best thing to do for a horrible liar, was probably to avoid the lying for as long as possible. "I ehm, I left it at school, a… friend gave me a ride."

Charlie looked at me in surprise. I wondered if it was because I had left my truck at school, or because I had used the word 'friend' in an attempt to lighten his mood even more.

"Oh… why, is it broken?" There it was, that horrible question. This was where the lying part would have to start.

"Not exactly… someone stabbed my tires." _Wow, still not lying._

"What!?" Charlie exclaimed in a hard voice. "Who did it?"

"I wouldn't know, dad." _Big, fat lie._

He squinted his eyes, eyeing me with suspicion. "Are you sure that you don't know?"

"Positive." _One-word-lie. _Another tactic, keeping it short, the more I would ramble, the more suspicious Charlie would get.

He sighed in defeat, although I wasn't sure if he truly believed me. "Fine, I'll make sure that it gets fixed tomorrow, and I'll give you a ride to school." He said, turning his attention back to his food.

I nodded. "Thanks dad, that would be helpful."

"You're welcome… But Bella, if something is going on, you can tell me, you know that right?" He looked concerned.

Wonderful, now he made me feel even more guilty, and I had to lie again. "Really dad, everything's just fine. Never better!"

"So, who's your friend?" He suddenly asked when I had just assumed that the coast was clear.

"Ehm… Edward… Cullen. I told you about him, right?"

"Oh, yes! The doctor's son. So you guys really get along well?"

"Yeah dad, we get along _great…_"

"Good, than you can ask him to give you a ride back home tomorrow after school, I don't really have time to pick you up myself."

"Sure, I'll do that." _Not._

I truly hoped that this was the last lie, for today at least…

* * *

_That's it for today, there will be a new chapter tomorrow! =D Thank you for reading!_


	6. A Twist In Her Fairytale

_Hi there! ^^_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Porcelain-Shadow, Lizzy, Jess, Gnomegirl13, AngelaK779, HeatherC, SoundsLikeAPersonalProblem** _and_ **Marian Hood!** _:D_

_Alright… A free chocolate-covered-Edward for Porcelain-Shadow, a free chocolate-covered-Jasper for Lizzy, a free digital cow (lol xD) for Gnomegirl13 and free digital chocolate cookies for all my other reviewers! :D _

_I feel like Santa Claus now. :p_

_To __AngelaK779_: _I'm glad you think that, because I'm afraid that some more cliffhangers will be coming up. xD_

_Okay folks, chapter six, have fun!_

* * *

**A Twist In Her Fairytale**

_I was walking through the huge, green forest of Forks. It was quiet, except for the peaceful sound of birds that were singing. I was all alone, and that should scare me, but it didn't, because I already knew that this would turn out fine.  
Occasionally, a small ray of sunlight would find its way through the trees, shining on the glistening leaves that were covering the forest floor. I knew what I was looking for, or better, _who_ I was looking for, and it wouldn't be long now…  
The only reason that I was so certain, was because I had already dreamed about this so many times. That was why I knew I was only dreaming, I was so familiar with this dream… Although that definitely didn't make it less exciting. _

_I gasped as he appeared in front of me, seemingly out of nowhere. I knew this would happen, but it still surprised me, even after dreaming it at least once a week for the last couple of months. _

"_Hello Elizabeth." He spoke in a clear voice. _

_A huge smile broke across my face. "Hey Damian." I whispered. _

_He smirked at me, simply standing there in all his perfection. Of course I thought he was perfect, since I was the one who had created him. His hair was dark, his face pale. His eyes were a warm, golden color, the result of only drinking animal blood instead of human blood._

"_I've missed you." He said as he stepped closer to me. _

"_I've missed you, too." I heard the same, lame reply as usual that came out of my mouth. I wanted to move closer to him, like he had stepped closer to me. I was already smiling, knowing that the best part of this dream was yet to come. I wanted to take a step forward, but a voice that suddenly sounded from behind me kept me frozen in place. _

"_Don't do that." The voice sounded like velvet, and I quickly turned my head. The beautiful boy with bronze hair and emerald-green eyes was standing behind me on the forest path, completely motionless. _

"_Edward?" I asked, slightly shocked. "You're not supposed to be here!"_

_Edward frowned and shook his head. "That's not true, _he_ is not supposed to be here." He stated in a flat tone, pointing at Damian. _

"_But he always is… I know this dream…" I argued, even though I wasn't so sure anymore. _

"_Don't listen to him…" Damian interrupted the conversation. _

"_No, don't listen to _him_." Edward growled. He gently grabbed my left wrist and looked into my eyes, a pleading look on his face. "You know it's not right…"_

"_What's not right?" I mumbled, getting more and more confused by the second. _

"_He's talking nonsense, Elizabeth." I felt how Damian grabbed my free hand and forced me to look at him. _

"_You're not Elizabeth, Bella. He isn't even real…" Edward whispered. _

_I glanced at Edward, then at Damian, and back at Edward again. Green eyes, golden eyes, green eyes… I groaned and pulled both of my hands free from their firm grips. _

"_I don't understand, this isn't how the dream goes." I muttered as I looked at both boys. _

_Without a warning, Damian was gone, he had disappeared, just like that. I threw Edward a confused glance, but he gave me an apologetic smile, before also disappearing. _

_I quickly scanned the area around me but both of them were nowhere to be seen. "Damian?" I called. No reaction. "Edward, get back here!" I yelled. Still no reaction. _

_Just great, me, alone, in an empty forest. I started to walk, and I gradually picked up my pace until I was almost running. For some unknown reason, panic was suddenly overtaking me. I wasn't so sure at this point, about this being a dream. Maybe it was the fact that the dream didn't stick to the usual, familiar script anymore… _

_I kept running, going faster and faster. But no matter how far I ran, I never saw anything other than trees and more trees. I was lost, totally lost, and no one was there to help me. I had another panic attack, and I screamed in horror as I let myself fall to the damp forest floor. _

_[…]_

My own screaming was what woke me up. My heart was working overtime and I slowly sat up in my bed, running a hand through my hair in frustration. Well wasn't this just perfect! Edward Cullen was now even ruining my _dreams_! As if it hadn't been enough for him to interfere with my life. What had I done to him to deserve this? Thanks to him I didn't even get to the best part of the dream, the part where I usually got to kiss the beautiful vampire…

"Stupid Edward..." I mumbled to myself.

xxx

I sat at a lunch table, all alone and feeling like a zombie. My head was resting in my hands, and at the moment, I wanted nothing more than to sleep. I didn't know how I had managed to stay awake during trig and English. After that stupid dream I had last night, I'd had some other disturbing nightmares, almost all of them including a certain bronze-haired boy. It had to be the guilt that was slowly consuming me, that was obviously the problem here…

"Hi Bella…"

I lifted my heavy head up to see that it was Alice, standing in front of me. She hadn't sounded as chipper as usual when she greeted me, and she looked a little unsure.

"Hey Alice…" I replied, giving her a questioning look.

"Is it… alright if I sit with you? I mean… do you only want my brother to give you some space, or does the distance-rule also apply to me?" She asked warily.

Ah… right. This was another problem, one I hadn't even thought about until now. Naturally, it would be better if I cut off every sort of contact that I had with the Cullens… but I sort of liked Alice. She was the closest thing to a friend that I'd ever had… I was only hoping that she wouldn't grill me further about the agreement I had made with her brother.

"Sure, I guess you can sit with me." I muttered finally.

The smile she gave me assured me that she wasn't mad at me for shooing her brother, and I felt some relief when she started a random conversation about some Biology project that she was currently working on. I noticed that she threw me a concerned glance every now and then, but she didn't bring up the subject that I wanted to avoid, probably sensing that I didn't want to talk about it.

Alice made me feel slightly better, but when lunch break ended, I instantly felt a knot in my stomach. It was time for Biology, which meant that I had to face Edward again, and I wasn't looking forward to that…

After I had said goodbye to Alice, I made my way to the Biology classroom in a slow pace, trying to put off the dreaded task at hand for a few more minutes.

By the time I reached my desk, my knees felt a little shaky and my feet were feeling heavy. Edward was already in his seat, and I tried to compose my face as I carefully sat down next to him. What was I supposed to do now? Ignore him completely? Greet him out of politeness? Hoping that a huge hole in the floor would open up and swallow me whole?

"Hello Bella." He said cautiously, before I had more time to think it through. He didn't sound angry, but his tone was distant.

_I guess that answers that question._ "Hey Edward…"

Other than that, Edward didn't talk to me, and I didn't like it. At all. It was almost hurting, even though I knew that he was just leaving me alone because I had asked him to.

The class seemed to drag on and on, and when it finally ended, Edward left with a short "Bye Bella".

Normally, he would make some sort of joke about me being a total klutz in gym, or he would wish me good luck and tell me to watch myself so I wouldn't get hurt. I guessed that those days were over now, and I'd never expected that it would bother me so much. But I didn't have a choice, did I? It was either this, or joining Girl Wars…

During gym, my thoughts were miles away, causing me to trip and twist my ankle while playing basketball. The coach gave me permission to see the nurse, and she advised me to go home and put some ice on it. When I came out of the front office, school had already ended, and I hopped awkwardly through the crowded parking lot, trying not to use my injured ankle. I cursed as I suddenly recalled that my truck wasn't there; Charlie had promised to pick it up somewhere during the day, to get me some new tires. Of course he had dropped me off this morning, but he had suggested that I could ask Edward to drive me back home. I had decided right away that I would simply walk home, but my twisted ankle was complicating things a bit. I scanned the place for Alice's car, which I knew was bright yellow, but it was already gone. I did spot the silver Volvo, but ignored it. It was only a thirty minute walk, or in my case, a forty-five minute hop. I would survive.

I had almost reached the exit of the parking lot when I stubbed my toe. Once again I was on my way to an unwanted meeting with the cold, hard floor. I was waiting for the pain, but it never came. Two strong arms had caught me around the waist before I had a chance to fall face-first to the ground.

I turned my head in surprise and I was face to face with Edward. He was so close that his nose was almost touching mine. Another thing that I noticed now that he was this close to me, was how nice he smelled. His eyes didn't betray any emotion, but they were beautiful all the same, and it made my heart speed up. We just kept staring at each other, until I realized how bad this was looking if Lauren or Jessica spotted us.

I reluctantly freed myself from his grip with a small sigh. "Thank you… for catching me…" I stammered.

"You're welcome, please try to watch where you're walking next time." Again he used the distant tone that he had used this afternoon, but he did look truly concerned as he warned me to watch out.

"I will… Thanks, Edward." I mumbled, before slowly backing away, stumbling because of my stupid ankle.

"Be safe… I'll see you later… Wait, you're not going to _walk_ home like that, are you?" He said skeptically as he raised his eyebrows, staring at my left foot that I was awkwardly keeping from the ground.

"That was the plan…" I admitted in a small voice.

He sighed. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

"No really, you don't have to do that." I argued.

He just shot me a warning glare.

"Fine!" I grumbled in defeat.

Without another word he walked me to his car, supporting me, making sure my ankle didn't hurt too much. He opened the passenger door like he had done yesterday, and helped me in. There was an uncomfortable silence during the short drive, and I was glad when Charlie's house came into sight.

Sure enough, Edward offered to walk me to the door but I assured him that it was fine. He didn't argue after that, and I quickly thanked him before getting out of his car.

I got inside the house as fast as my painful ankle was allowing me, and I rested my head against the front door once it was safely closed.

I felt very confused, but one thing was for sure… I didn't hate Edward Cullen. I hated Lauren and Jessica, maybe Katie. I hated myself. But I couldn't bring myself to hate Edward. So what if he was turning my life around, so what if he was ruining my dreams? For the first time in a long time, I finally felt _something real, _and it was all because of him, there was no point in denying it…

So what was I going to do now? Was I going to choose the safe path by staying away from him, or was I going to find myself a torch and a pitchfork in order to join the fight? I honestly didn't know anymore…

* * *

_Thank you for reading, new update tomorrow! :D_


	7. Happily Never After

_Hello dear readers! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Lauren, Lizzy, Porcelain-Shadow, Marijne, Jess, Jayd-n33, ****AlwaysYoursScincerely****, RangerRainbow, Gnomegirl13, Marian Hood, Ashcakes2009,** **Cookies1500**_ and _**Maggiekiki! **_I can't tell you guys enough that I really appreciate the reviews! :D_

_Let's see… one Edward covered in strawberry sauce for Lizzy, and one chocolate drizzled Edward sundae for AlwaysYoursScincerely! And chocolate ice-cream for all my other reviewers! _

_To Marijne: Yay wat leuk dat je hier reageerde! __Ik vind het altijd zo grappig als Nederlanders hier reageren. xD Dankjewel! __*Knuf*_

_Alright, the rambling above, that's Dutch. xD It might as well be Russian to you guys, right? xD_

_To RaingerRainbow: Lol, don't worry about it, we all need sleep, it's a human thing. :')_

_To Gnomegirl13: Yay Moo-Moo, that's a cool name! 8) About English not being my first language, it's weird really, I don't even understand it myself, why it is so easy for me. Of course I had the regular English classes in school, but I can tell you that it's all very basic in the Netherlands. Just basic sentences to survive in English, things like asking directions and asking where the bathroom is. :p I never took special English courses or anything like that, so it's a mystery to me. xD_

_To Cookies1500: Hmm, Epov, I'm not sure if I'm very good at that. Maybe I will write some things in Epov, to practice, but if I do I will probably post them as outtakes, not as a part of the original story._

_Okay, enough babbling, on with the story! Have fun._

* * *

**Happily Never After**

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since I had told Edward that we couldn't be friends, and we hadn't really talked after that one last time when he had given me a ride home. There were the polite 'hellos' and 'goodbyes', but other than that, we avoided each other. Truth be told, I was still sorry that it had to be this way, but I was a coward, and I didn't have the guts or the experience to join the sneaky games that were included in Girl Wars.

I knew that staying away from Edward wouldn't get any easier, but when I drove into the parking lot this morning, it seemed that Edward himself was doing fine. He had just parked his car in his regular spot, and he got out and walked around the front to help out the one and only _Tanya Denali. _That was the moment I realized exactly _how much_ it was hurting.

When I spotted them again, during lunch, sitting at a table with Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper, I wanted nothing more than to walk over to that table, and punch Tanya Denali in the face. I had never felt like this before, and I was telling myself that this was silly. Unfortunately the green monster was prominently present, and it seemed impossible for me to ignore it. Why was I feeling this jealous? I wanted him to have friends, didn't I? And why did it bother me that Tanya was grabbing his arm at this exact moment…

"Earth to Bella!" Alice called, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off." I apologized.

"No, you were staring at my brother." Alice stated bluntly.

I rolled my eyes but didn't object to her statement, she was totally right. "Thanks for pointing that out, Miss Subtle."

"Anytime." She said with a straight face, before bursting out into laughter. "So what's up?"

I decided to play dumb. "What do you mean, what's up?"

She gave me a disapproving glare. "What's up with you and Edward?"

"You know very well what's up, we are keeping some distance, so that I'm no longer a target of the Bitch-Army."

"Yeah yeah, I know that, that's not what I meant." Alice replied tiredly. "I see the way you're looking at him, you like him, don't you?"

I frowned. Did I like him? I was sort of new to the whole making-friends-thing, and it was pretty clear what Alice was implying. She thought I liked him as even _more _than a friend. Could she be right? Was that why it was bothering me so much to see him together with Tanya?

I swallowed loudly when I noticed that Alice was still looking at me expectantly. "I honestly don't know, Alice." I whispered. "And it doesn't even matter anymore…"

Alice raised one of her eyebrows in disbelief. "What do you mean? Of course it matters, why wouldn't it?"

"Well… he's with Tanya now, right?" I muttered.

"No he's not, he merely gave her a ride. Tanya called him up this morning because she had 'car trouble', and she begged him to pick her up. Of course my brother is too much of a gentleman to refuse her…" Alice rolled her eyes dismissively as she said this, her tone making it clear that she didn't buy the car-trouble-excuse.

"Oh…" I didn't really know what to say. Sure, he wasn't with her… yet. But it wouldn't be hard for someone like Tanya to convince him that she was what he needed. And it wasn't as if he would ever want me as more than just a friend… even if that was what I wanted.

"Stop avoiding him, Bella. He misses you." Alice blurted out, before letting out a huge sigh. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. He doesn't want you to feel bad about it."

This guy was unbelievable, how could anyone be so selfless. Alice was right, I had to talk to him, I had to stop being a coward…

"You're right… maybe I should talk to him." I muttered, earning a small smile from Alice.

xxx

When it was time for Biology, I still hadn't saved up enough courage, and the hour passed without me saying a word to Edward. I was such a loser.

It was an hour later, during gym class, that I decided that I was going to talk to him after school. I would look him up, and tell him that I wanted us to be friends. What was I afraid of anyway? One thing was certain, I wanted Edward around, and by now I was more than willing to throw myself into the fight, if that was what I had to do…

My heart was pounding in my throat as I sprinted out of the gym. It was a miracle, but I had made it through the hour without injuring myself. I headed for the parking lot, hoping to catch him there. I quickly scanned the place and noticed that his Volvo was still in the regular parking spot.

I swiftly walked up to his car with an unexplainable, newfound confidence, but I came abruptly to a stop when I saw that he was already in it. And not him alone, Tanya was sitting next to him. He wasn't looking my way, but I guessed that Tanya had noticed me standing there like an idiot, because she smirked, before turning her head, leaning closer to Edward and _kissing him_.

I didn't want to watch this and I ran, as fast as I could... Tears were streaming down my face, and I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I was heading for my truck, but I changed my mind when I realized that I wouldn't be able to drive safely in this state.

I ran around the school building, into the forest. I didn't get far before I sank to my knees; my shaking legs were no longer able to carry me. I was so stupid. Of course Edward would date someone like Tanya. Even if he was a nice guy, people like him and Tanya were genetically programmed to find each other. They looked great together. He was beautiful, she was beautiful, end of story. Like he would ever pick a plain jane like me over her. Alice had been wrong all along, Edward would never like me as more than a friend…

Even though I felt miserable, I had learned something about myself today... I had changed, immensely so. A few weeks ago, I didn't give a shit about friends, boyfriends or relationships. Right now, it was obvious that I _did_ like Edward as more than a friend, otherwise I wouldn't have reacted this way. So Alice was right about something, I liked her brother, and I liked him _too much_.

I didn't know how long I was sitting there on the cold forest floor, but when it started to get dark, I still didn't feel like getting up. I continued crying, until I suddenly heard a sound, right behind me. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I turned my head to see what had made the sound. I was praying that it wasn't a bear or something like that, but I relaxed a little when I saw a flashlight. Bears didn't carry flashlights.

"Bella?" Charlie's voice sounded slightly panicked. "Bella are you here?"

I sighed. _Busted_. "I'm here, dad." I called reluctantly. The worst thing was that he would want an explanation.

"Bells! What are you doing here? I was worried sick! And then I saw that your truck was still here…" He ranted as soon as he came into sight.

"I'm sorry, dad. I didn't… feel so well." I was too tired to come up with a brilliant excuse.

"You didn't feel well? What's wrong? Are you in pain? Why did you run into a forest? You should've called a doctor!" He was getting more panicked by the second.

"No! I'm not in pain, I'm not… physically hurt." I muttered.

Charlie frowned in confusion. "What… what happened then?"

"I really don't want to talk about that."

"You're a wreck, Bells, you don't have to give me all the details, but you have to tell me who did this to you."

I knew Charlie meant well, he wanted to help me, but this wasn't something he could fix.

"I… I did this to myself."

It wasn't even a lie. I had done this to myself, I had made myself believe that Edward was different, but he did exactly what I had expected him to do all along. He had disappointed me, he wanted Tanya Denali, and he got her. Even if it was all my fault… After all, I had told him to stay away from me.

Charlie sighed. "Always blaming yourself, you know I don't believe you…"

"It's just that I can't explain this, dad… I don't even understand my own feelings, let alone share them with you." Charlie wasn't good at conversations that included complicated emotions, so I was hoping that this would be enough for him to let it go.

He groaned. _Success!_ "Fine, we'll talk later. Let's go home, Bells."

"Yes let's." I got up, brushing the leaves from my dirty clothes and following Charlie out of the forest. My legs were feeling a little stiff, which was no wonder, since I'd been sitting on a hard floor for hours.

"Are you able to drive yourself?" Charlie asked, gesturing to my truck.

His police cruiser was parked right next to it, but if I didn't take my truck, I wouldn't have a car this weekend, and I would have to walk to school on Monday.

"Sure, I'm fine." I tried to sound convincing.

"Alright then, be careful."

I made it back home in one piece, and immediately went upstairs. I took a quick shower, and after that I went straight to bed.

Of course I was unable to sleep, which was to be expected. Stupid, stupid Edward Cullen. Sure, my life had been pretty boring before he had showed up, and sometimes I had felt very lonely, but at least I had never felt this horrible.

I tossed and turned for hours, until I finally slipped into unconsciousness, hoping that I would feel better in the morning…

* * *

_Please don't kill me (or Edward). (a) Things will be better in the next chapter, promise. :p See you guys tomorrow!_


	8. For Her Friend

_* Cautiously comes out of the cave where she's been hiding for the last 24 hours * _

_I'm still alive! :D And so is Edward… He was hiding with me in the cave. Yeah yeah, I know what you think! Personal gain! That's not true! It was for his own safety… *Serious face* I mean, come on, it's not like I enjoyed being stuck in a hidden cave with Edward… For 24 hours… Just the two of us…_

_Okay, moving on… xD_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Lizzy, Porcelain-Shadow, Jrow1107, LoveTeamEdward, Jess, Marian Hood, RangerRainbow, AlwaysYoursScincerely, Lauren **_and_** Cookies1500!** _:D_

_Alright, today's presents! A special MakeOver!Alice for Lizzy, an Edward shaped chocolate for Porcelain-Shadow and a Jasper for RangerRainbow! __And free, digital cupcakes for all my other reviewers! _

_To LoveTeamEdward: Yeeeeuy nog een Nederlander. xD Wat geweldig, het zit hier ineens vol met Nederlanders. xD En ja, ik kan je in ieder geval alvast verklappen dat Edward absoluut geen interesse heeft in Tanya. :p Dankjewel!_

_To Jess: Lol, I'm guessing you hate Tanya. Me too! xD And a lot of other people also hate her at the moment, maybe we should burn her at the stake! :O_

_To Marian Hood: Yeah, Bella isn't good with the whole emotions-thing. xD Of course we will all get an explanation later, on why Bella is the way she is. You'll all get to hear when Edward does, but it might take a few more chapters before that happens. :p_

_To AlwaysYoursScincerely: I don't want to give away too much, but the mean girls are definitely going to cause some more trouble. :p_

_To Lauren: I know what you mean, you're totally right, that's why I just had to put this in here! xD_

_To Cookies: Aahw, sorry about the Edward Pov, but at this point, it doesn't fit in the story, and it would just give away everything. xD But don't worry, tomorrow we will all know what happened. xD (Of course I already know. *evil laugh*)_

_Is anyone annoyed by the long author's notes? If that's the case, just tell me, I'll try to keep it shorter next time. xD_

_So here it is, chapter eight!_

* * *

**For Her Friend**

Saturday morning, normally a good opportunity to sleep in, but today I was up early, I simply couldn't sleep anymore. Charlie was already gone when I got up, probably fishing. I still felt miserable, so I decided to clean the house thoroughly, hoping that it would distract me for a while.

Around half past twelve, the entire house was neat and clean, and I made myself a sandwich while already contemplating what I was going to do next. We still had more than enough groceries, so going to the supermarket wasn't an option. I was racking my brain, but the best I could come up with was doing homework.

I was just doing the dishes, when the phone suddenly rang. I dropped my plate and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Oh! Hi Bella, it's Alice." Alice's voice sounded a little wary.

"Alice, hey! What's up?" I asked.

"Hmm, I was calling you to ask you the same question. It's Edward, I don't know what's wrong with him." She explained, my heart jumping automatically as she said his name.

"Edward? What about him?" I did my best to make my tone sound nonchalant.

"I'm not sure, he seemed very upset when he got home after dropping off Tanya yesterday, and he has been sulking in his room ever since. He won't come out, he doesn't want to talk… so I was wondering if maybe it has something to do with you. Since you were planning on talking to him, you know." Alice rambled.

"Oh… no, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with me, because I didn't really get a… a chance to talk to him yesterday."

"You guys didn't talk at all?" Alice mused.

"Positive." I assured her. "And he… didn't seem depressed when I spotted him in his car after school, he and Tanya Denali were kissing." I blurted out, before smacking my hand against my forehead. Why didn't I think before spilling my guts?

"What?! Why? He doesn't even like her!" Alice exclaimed in surprise.

"So maybe he had a change of mind?" I offered.

"No, I'm sure that he would… Wait! You saw them kissing, right?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Yeah, in the parking lot."

"Did he see you?" She continued her interrogation.

"I don't know… I don't think so… but _she_ did."

"Well that explains." Alice muttered angrily. Before I could ask her what she was talking about, she asked me another question. One that made my blood turn cold. "Could you please come over and talk to Edward?"

"What? No, I really don't want to talk to him right now." I confessed.

"Yes you do, that thing with Tanya wasn't what it looked like, or I don't think so at least. Please, Bella, talk some sense into him…" Her voice sounded pleading, and I didn't know what to say.

"I don't know Alice… I don't think it will make a difference." I tried.

"It will make all the difference in the world, please, I'm asking you as a friend." She pleaded again.

Great, I was such a hopeless pushover when it came to Alice. "Fine! Tell me your address and I'll be on my way." I muttered with a defeated sigh.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alice squealed.

I was going to regret this. Big time.

xxx

I felt extremely nervous, and there was an uneasy feeling in my stomach as I turned into the driveway that led to the Cullen House. I was tempted to turn around, but I had promised Alice, so I just had to stick to the plan now.

I gasped in surprise when I noticed the Cullen mansion at the end of the driveway. It was huge, and white, and… beautiful. I sighed in relief when I spotted Alice, who was already sitting on the porch steps, waving at me.

I parked my truck and walked up to Alice, smiling tentatively at her. "You have a very nice home."

"Thanks!" She said, grinning back at me and jumping up.

"So… does this mean that your entire family will be watching my futile attempt to get Edward out of his depression?" I asked in a shaky voice, getting even more panicked at the thought.

She snorted and shook her head. "No, my dad's working at the hospital, my mom's visiting a friend and Emmett is hanging out with Jasper Hale."

"Ah… well, that makes it considerably less horrible." I said, making a face at her.

"I'm sorry, Bella, for making you do this, but I think that this is a problem that only you can fix."

"Why would you think that? Like I said, it has nothing to do with me."

"If I'm right, which I probably am, it has _everything_ to do with you." Alice said cryptically.

I decided to let it go; asking her for an explanation would definitely be a wasted effort. "Alright then, let's get this over with."

I followed Alice through the front door of the big house, and it didn't surprise me that it was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. The interior was light and open, and most of the furniture was white. There was a huge piano standing in the large hallway, to my left.

"Come on, I'll show you to Edward's room." Alice announced while lightly tugging on my hand, before I could take in any more details.

She led me up the stairs and at the top she turned to the right. I hesitantly followed her, still curiously taking in my surroundings. We passed a lot of doors, but finally she came to a stop.

"The monster's lair." Alice said with an official tone and a serious face, while pointing at the door in front of us.

"Wonderful… So what do I do now?" I said in a low voice, hoping that he couldn't hear me.

"Hmm, you could go get an axe and break down the door." Alice suggested sarcastically.

"Sounds like a plan! But seriously, do I need something to arm myself with?" I hissed.

"Sure, I'll get you a sword and shield." She said in the same, sarcastic tone.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I'm not very good at this." I defended myself.

"Just convince him to talk to you about what happened the other day. I'll give you some privacy." Alice said with a wink that was supposed to be reassuring, before bouncing down the hallway, heading for the stairs.

"Hey wait! You can't just leave me with… Never mind." I mumbled to myself, since she was already gone.

Some friend, she had left me to fend for myself! I could still turn around and sneak away… No! That would make me a very lousy friend, too.

I cleared my throat before knocking against the door.

"Go away, Alice!" Uh oh, he didn't sound friendly. _Run and hide!_

"It's… it's not Alice…" I squeaked in a too-high voice, placing my ear against the door in order to hear his response more clearly.

"Bella?" He sounded slightly shocked, but at least his tone was more gentle now.

_No, it's Santa Claus, alright. _"Yeah it's me…" Oh how I wished it wasn't me, I wanted nothing more than to get out of this place.

"What… what are you doing here?" He asked warily.

"I came here to… talk to you. Please let me in, Edward." I knew it was a long shot. If he was even hiding away from his own family, why on earth would he want to talk to me?

I almost jumped up when I heard the sound of a key turning in a lock… Was he seriously going to let me into his room?

My breathing hitched when the door opened, and there he was standing, right in front of me. It had been a while since those beautiful, green eyes had been this close to me, and I involuntarily gazed into them. They didn't seem angry, or mad, more like unhappy. I was distracted when he ran one of his hands through his tousled, bronze hair... He was looking a little unsure.

"So… let's talk…" I suggested, unable to keep my voice steady and firm.

"Yes… come in." He gestured with his hand for me to go inside.

My heart went in overdrive the second that I entered his room. I was in, I had made it into the lair of the monster! Too bad that the worst part was yet to come. I had to talk to him... most likely about the subject of him kissing Tanya Denali. I was screwed, totally screwed…

* * *

_Tomorrow, things will get even better. :p Stay tuned!_


	9. The Misunderstanding

_Hey there! :D_

_Sorry guys, late update, don't hate me, hate my job… I know I do. x'D_

_Special thanks to my reviewers;_ **Azra86, Bluemaybits, Lizzy, Jess, Marian Hood, Raybanlover, Cookies1500, Porcelain-Shadow, Gnomegirl13, AngelaK779, RangerRainbow, LoveTeamEdward **_and_** Lauren!**_ :D_

_Free digital… oh god I have no inspiration today… *insert something you like here* for all my reviewers! I'm such a dork. xD_

_To Porcelain-Shadow: Omg, you are unbelievable! xD But here it is, especially for you, a digital Edward in Chippendale outfit. :p Have fun!_

_To Azra86: Yeah it's one way or the other. :p And it so happens that a lot of people prefer the daily updates. So I'm sorry, I can't make everyone happy, I guess. Which is too bad. xD But if it's any consolation, most of the future chapters are going to be a bit longer than the ones I've uploaded so far._

_To Lizzy: Have fun with Jasper! :p Wow I thought it was a miracle that people are reading my annoyingly long author's notes, but you even like them. That's awesome. xD_

_To Cookies1500: Nah, I'm not trying to kill you… not on purpose at least. xD_

_To Gnomegirl13: The angry mob sounds good! :D I love angry mobs! *Grabs some torches*_

_To LoveTeamEdward: Haha, jaaa, ik ben echt evil. :p _

_Alright, chapter nine guys, enjoy!_

* * *

**The Misunderstanding**

I thought I was going to faint. How on earth was I going to have a conversation with Edward Cullen, about the girl he had kissed?! Sure, I had decided that Alice could be my friend, but this certainly hadn't been in the job description of being Alice's friend.

Edward closed the door behind us and sat down on the edge of his bed, motioning for me to do the same. Sitting down was a good idea, my legs were getting more and more shaky.

"Alright… what did you want to talk about?" Edward asked, keeping his face straight.

Wasn't that just great, he was going to play dumb! I had to pull everything out of him, as if this wasn't hard enough without me grilling him. "Look Edward, Alice is worried about you, and so is the rest of your family…" I began cautiously. I was a genius, using the guilt-trick. It always worked when Charlie used it on me…

"And what makes you think that you can help me?" He challenged me.

I rolled my eyes. "The fact that I'm the only person that you aren't ignoring."

There was a rather long silence. "You win." He finally muttered.

"I do! So are you going to tell me, or do I have to beat it out of you?" I tried to make a joke, hoping to break the ice.

"I don't really know where to start." He mused, looking up at me from under those long lashes, making my heart go wild. Cheater.

"Stop that." I warned him in a reflex.

"Stop what?" He demanded.

"I don't know, you're making me feel all… weird." I blushed as I confessed this.

He smirked at me. The jerk smirked. "Really? I make you feel weird? A good weird, or a bad weird?"

"Whatever." I groaned. "Now tell me why you've been acting like a moron the last twenty-four hours."

"That's a nice way of putting it… Listen Bella, what happened yesterday… that wasn't… I didn't want her to… kiss me. She attacked me, just like that." He was almost whispering the last part.

Wow rewind, what did he just say? Did he mean it? He didn't want Tanya? Or was it a lame excuse? But still, one unwanted kiss wouldn't kill him, so I shrugged and raised my eyebrows in amazement. "You're locking yourself up in your room because some girl kissed you against your will?"

"No, Bella I… I saw you running, before I had a chance to push her away… And you seemed upset… I was feeling so stupid, and the idea of making you unhappy… I know it was an overreaction for me to act like this, but I felt so guilty…" He was still looking me straight in the eye, and it made me nervous again.

This poor boy was miserable because he felt guilty about getting me upset? He had every right to have a life, even if it made me upset. I had to let him off the hook.

"Yes I did see it… but it's no big deal Edward, I wasn't really… that upset." I lied bluntly. "I was looking for you because I wanted to have a chat with you… but then I saw you guys and… well I just felt concerned for you, you know how Tanya has a new boyfriend every other week… I didn't want her to break your heart. I mean, you can kiss whoever you want… " I was stammering a lot, but this huge lie came out pretty convincing, for a sucky liar like me anyway. Or at least I hoped so, no need to confess all sorts of embarrassing things when I wasn't even sure about my own feelings yet.

"Oh… either way, I just wanted you to know that I don't like Tanya in that way…" He sounded almost disappointed, although I couldn't imagine why. "Anyway… what did you want to talk about?"

"Ehm, about us." God no, that sounded wrong. "About us being friends, I mean." I added quickly. _Nice save, Bella!_

"Aha, what about us?" Edward asked, those green eyes were smoldering me and he was so close that his breath was fanning my face. I was on the edge of hyperventilation.

"We… I…" Shit. What were we talking about, again? All I could look at was his face. Why did he have to have such a nice face?

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. He put one of his hands over my right hand that had been lying on the bed, and he lightly stroked the back. Oh my god, did he _want_ me to pass out?

"I'm perfect." I squeaked, trying to subtly remove my hand from his. "Listen, what it comes down to… I want to be your friend. I don't care about an annoying bunch of girls, stalking me. We get along, right? So it would be stupid to let our friendship be ruined by a few jealous girls."

A smile broke across his perfect face and his eyes were sparkling. "Yes, we get along very well, I'm glad you've changed your mind."

"Me too." I agreed. "So if I have to fight off some girls, or buy a new set of tires every week, then that's fine with me." I said in a mock cheerful tone.

He laughed, but his expression soon was back to serious. "You won't have to do that, Bella. I'll make sure to protect you from them." He said sternly.

He wanted to protect me? Nice! Maybe he could also help me with getting rid of the butterflies that were currently fluttering around in my stomach. "You don't have to do that, I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."

"And I don't want _you_ to get into trouble because of _me._" He replied immediately.

I nodded, rolling my eyes in defeat. "Fair enough."

"In that case, I think it's settled." Edward said, smiling crookedly at me.

"Yeah, no more ignoring each other." I clarified.

"That seems like a good way to start." He agreed with a grin.

"It does… Okay, I'm going to help Alice out of her misery now." I said conspiratorially while lightly patting the back of his hand.

He chuckled. "Yes, you do that."

I got up from his bed, and I was already heading for the door when he called me back.

"Hey Bella… Is it alright if we do something fun tomorrow, just the two of us? I know it sounds weird, but I sort of missed you these last two weeks."

He had missed me? And he was admitting it out loud. This guy was too sweet, how could I ever resist him? "Sure, why not."

He smiled widely. "Good. I'll call you later about the details. You can go and save Alice."

"Alright, see you later. Bye Edward."

"Goodbye Bella, I'll see you tomorrow." His musical voice sounded almost excited, as if he was looking forward to it.

How anyone could get excited at the thought of seeing me, was beyond me, but I certainly didn't complain.

I made my way downstairs and Alice was already waiting for me in the huge, light hall.

"And? Did you knock some sense into him?" She asked with a huge grin on her face, probably already knowing the answer.

"Yes, I did, it's safe to talk to him now."

"Excellent! In that case, I'm going to kick his butt for ignoring me."

I snorted. "Good luck with that, I'm going home to make dinner for Charlie."

"Wait a minute young lady! Did you smooth things out with my brother?"

"Yeah… we're going to hang out tomorrow, so I guess we're good." I informed her.

"Well done, girl! Well done…" She said with a satisfied look on her face.

We said our goodbyes and when I got home I decided to make a simple salad for tonight, seeing as I didn't feel like cooking today. I was still too excited because Edward had asked me to spend the day with him, tomorrow. Which reminded me, he was going to call me tonight. That thought alone was enough to make the butterflies bounce around in my stomach again.

At this point, it was obvious that I was _in_ _love_ with Edward Cullen, even I couldn't deny it anymore. I had never felt anything like this before. The real question was, was I going to act on my feelings? Edward was something different, he truly was, but he was still human. He could change, eventually, and disappoint me again... No! I had to think more positive thoughts… not all people were the same, right?

I kept struggling with my own feelings while preparing dinner, and I didn't stop worrying until Charlie came home from work. I hadn't decided yet, whether or not I should tell him about my almost-date with Edward tomorrow. It wasn't really a date, but to a parent, this would sound dangerously close to a date.

It seemed that luck was with me, because Charlie immediately started to apologize for going fishing again tomorrow when he entered the small kitchen. Good! Now there was no need to tell him. I told him that I honestly didn't mind, and that was when he also confessed that he was going to watch the game over at his friend Billy's place tonight. That would make it even easier, now he wouldn't be suspicious when Edward called tonight. I assured Charlie that it was fine, waving away his worries about him leaving me alone too much.

"I'm serious dad, have fun tonight, I don't mind being alone, you know that." I said, practically pushing him out of the front door.

"Alright then, Bells, just call me if anything's wrong."

"I will, bye dad. Say hi to Billy for me."

"Will do, bye kiddo!"

I quickly did the dishes and after I was done, I was nervously pacing back and forth in the kitchen, glancing at the phone every ten seconds. I was so pathetic. After thirty minutes, I gave up and moved to the living room, where I watched television. Or maybe 'watching' wasn't really the correct word for what I was doing. I was restlessly flicking through channels, fidgeting with the remote in my hands.

I immediately sprang up from the couch when the phone rang, the remote crashing to the ground with a loud 'thud'. I sprinted to the kitchen and picked it up, smiling like a lunatic.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella, it's Edward."

_Be cool, be calm_, I chanted in my head. "Oh, hi Edward! Still alive after getting your butt kicked by Alice?"

"Yeah, I survived." He announced proudly.

I snorted. "Good for you."

"Yes… so about tomorrow, what do you want to do?" Edward asked.

"Err, there's not that much to do around here." I admitted. "Let me think for a second."

"Tell me about it, after three weeks of living here I can officially say that this place is rather boring." He mused.

Suddenly, an idea hit me. "We could go to La Push, there's a nice beach there, and the tidal pools are very beautiful."

"Really? Sounds good to me!" He instantly complied. "So… is it alright if I pick you up?"

"Yes, that would be great."

"Alright, how about I pick you up at eleven?" He suggested.

"Eleven's fine… I think I can manage to drag myself out of bed around ten."

Edward laughed lightly. "It's a date then."

My heart spluttered at the word 'date', even though I knew that he meant something else. "Yeah… so I guess I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Yes, I'll see you at eleven… Sweet dreams, Bella." He said gently in his silky voice.

I managed to choke out a "Good night, Edward" before hanging up the phone.

Sweet dreams… well that wasn't going to be a problem. This time I was actually _hoping_ that he would interrupt my dreams again...

* * *

_That's it for today, thank you for reading! More Bella/Edward fluff tomorrow. =D _


	10. Breaking Down More Walls

_Hey guys! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Lizzy, Lauren, RangerRainbow, Jess, FRK921, ****Temporaryinsanity91****, Porcelain-Shadow, Anneclairev123, Jayd-n33, AlwaysYoursScincerely, Gnomegirl13, Raybanlover** _and_ **Cookies1500!**

_Free digital chocolate for everyone! Oh and a day alone with Emmett for Lizzy, a free, digital Mike for Gnomegirl13, and an Edward to whisper sweet things in her ear for Porcelain-Shadow! xD I wish I could give everyone a real Edward, but unfortunately there is a serious lack of real Edwards in the real world, so that's going to be a problem. xD_

_To Jess: Exactly! It is a date! Sort of. xD And thank you for all your long reviews, I love reading them! :D_

_To FRK921: Lol, thank you for all the reviews!_

_To __AlwaysYoursScincerely__: Don't worry about it, I can fully understand that people have a life outside of reading fanfiction .:p_

_To Gnomegirl13: I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that there won't be any Jacob in this story. xD He's simply irrelevant to the general plot. :P And since kindergarten? Go get that guy! :O_

_To Cookies1500: Don't worry, I only had a lack of inspiration on which digital things to give you guys, I still have more than enough inspiration for this story! :p_

_So here's chapter ten! Have fun._

* * *

**Breaking Down More Walls**

Edward did star in my dreams that night, and I think I even woke up with a maniacal grin on my face when my alarm went off. That was until I realized that I had only one hour left to get ready. I hastily got up and took a quick shower. After I had fixed my impossible hair I was standing in front of my closet, scanning through my pathetic collection of clothes. For the first time in my life I was asking myself the question 'What should I wear'?

I never really cared what I looked like, but today I wanted to look nice, obviously. Ten minutes later I was still completely clueless, and since I was running out of time I decided to keep it simple; jeans and a rather new blue blouse. It didn't matter anyway, I would still look plain next to Edward, even if I wore a designer dress, so why even bother.

I was all finished and chewing on my last bite of cornflakes, when there was a knock on the door. The butterflies were back again, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. _It's just Edward, you've already talked to him a hundred times,_ I told myself. _But you weren't in love with him back then,_ an annoying voice in my head pointed out.

It was rude to keep him waiting any longer, and I composed my face before opening the front door. He looked amazing. He always did of course, but I had never paid that much attention to it before. Now that I did, it was like seeing him for the first time. Just when I thought I could breathe again, he smiled that uneven smile at me.

"Good morning." He said cheerfully.

"Good morning to you, too." My voice sounded surprisingly normal, thankfully.

"You look nice." He commented, turning my brain into mush.

I shrugged and turned bright red, unable to speak right away. "Thanks… you look nice, too." That was a light way of putting it.

He chuckled, I guessed because I was blushing like an idiot.

"So… are you ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, all ready."

"Let's go then." He suggested, gesturing to his car.

I walked over to the passenger side, and he opened the door for me. Although it didn't surprise me anymore, it still made me smile. It also made me wonder _why_ he did it... It was romantic, but very old fashioned. Not something that a normal boy his age would come up with all by himself.

"Why do you do that?" I blurted out immediately when he sat down next to me and started the engine.

"Well, if I don't start the engine, the car won't drive." He whispered in a mock conspiratorially tone while giving me an amused grin.

I groaned in frustration. "That's not what I mean… I meant why do you…"

"Oh, I know what you mean, I was just teasing you." He interrupted as he pulled out of the driveway, before I could make myself look even more stupid.

"Jerk." I muttered, lightly smacking his arm.

"Aahw, you're scaring me… But you do look cute when you're angry." He said as he turned his head to glance at me, almost sounding serious when he said the last part. His green eyes were hypnotizing me; how did he always manage to do that?

Count on me to blush like an idiot again. "So are you going to tell me?" I tried to distract him from my blushing face.

"Sure… it has everything to do with Esme and Carlisle, they did a good job at raising me, I guess." He explained.

"Yeah I guess they did then… I wasn't even aware of the fact that guys like this still existed, except in books." Oh no… I'd said that out loud, hadn't I?

His eyes were on me again. Why didn't he just keep his eyes on the road, where they belonged? I tried to figure out a way to make this sound better, preferably _before_ I started blushing or stammering again. "I mean… guys that have… good manners. Those are very rare nowadays."

"Yeah, you're right, it is sort of old fashioned, the whole opening doors thing, and stuff like that… Look if it bothers you… just say so, alright?" His tone wasn't as confident as it usually was, and when I looked at his flawless face I was pretty sure that _he_ was blushing lightly now.

He was unbelievable, he thought that it might bother me. As if! "No, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, I think it's cute."

Oh no! No, no, no. I said cute. I wanted to hit myself. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day, nothing useful seemed to come out of it today. Luckily, he let it go, and I sighed in light relief as we drove past a sign that said: '_La_ _Push Reservation, Welcome'._

I gave him directions to a place near to the beach, where visitors could park their cars. I had been here with Charlie several times, so I knew my way around.

When Edward turned off the engine, I reached for the door handle in order to get out, but he shook his head.

"Just a minute, you said you were okay with this, so I'm going to do this right." He smiled crookedly before getting out of the car and walking over to my side, opening the door and helping me out.

If he kept this up, I would most likely die at an early age because of a heart attack… but what a way to go…

xxx

We were lazily strolling along the deserted beach. I was hyperaware of Edward walking so close to me, his arm brushing frequently against mine. The weather wasn't so bad, for once it wasn't raining, and this place was never really crowded. That was why I had always enjoyed going here with Charlie when I was younger, it was peaceful and quiet.

"It's beautiful here." Edward said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes it is, Charlie always took me here when I was younger, he has a friend that lives nearby."

"Ah, so you discovered this place quite some time ago?"

"Yeah, Charlie would go fishing with Billy, and I would preoccupy myself with the incredible art of building sandcastles." I said in an official tone.

Edward snorted.

"Hey, don't make fun of me! After some years of practice I became very good at it! I was unbeatable in every competition I held with Billy's daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, when I was forced to play with them." I informed him as I came to a stop, playfully staring him in the eye.

"Unbeatable, huh? I'm sure I can beat you! I've got an Y chromosome, therefore I'm naturally better at constructing things than you!" He announced, smiling smugly at me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you challenging me?"

"You bet I am." Edward replied, the smirk still intact on his glorious face.

"Then bring it on!" I yelled at him, falling to my knees and digging my hands into the moist sand.

I saw him do the same, and I did my best to recall some techniques I had last used so many years ago. It was too bad that I only had my two bare hands, a bucket and a shovel would've been helpful, but I did the best I could. Every now and then I sneaked a look at Edward's castle, and I saw him do the same.

"That's cheating, you know!" I warned him when I caught him staring again.

"I wasn't looking at your castle, I was looking at you, so that doesn't count." His tone was serious but there was definitely humor in his eyes.

He was evil, once again I didn't know what to say. It was as if he knew very well what sort of effect he had on me, and he was using it against me. "Cheater." I grumbled.

After a while I was completely covered in sand and dirt, but I was pleased with the result. My castle looked pretty impressive, but so did Edward's.

"Are you finished?" I asked him.

"Yeah, all done, how about you?"

"Done!"

We got up and circled around both castles, critically taking in each other's sandy artworks. We each had our own style, but both of them looked good.

"Urgh, you win!" Edward finally said, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "I'll admit it, you _are_ good, for a girl. I think both our castle's are equally impressive."

"Yeah they are." I agreed. "Although mine looks much more stable than yours."

I was just teasing him, but he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You really think that? Let's test that theory, shall we?" He gave me an evil grin and leaned forward, his hand hovering over my construction of sand.

"You wouldn't dare, mister Cullen! Don't touch that!" I glared at him.

"Try and stop me." He purred, before lowering his hand and brushing it against the top of my castle.

"You've asked for it!" I warned him one last time, ready to attack him.

He swiftly moved his hand, and the entire upper part of the castle was gone.

"Look what you've done, you killed my roof!" I screamed in mock horror. "That was the most beautiful roof in the history of sandcastle buildings!"

"Hmm I'm sorry, maybe I should make sure that the walls match the roof." He mused, glancing playfully at me.

Without a warning, I threw myself on top of him, reaching for his hands so they couldn't do any more damage to my precious work of art. I had caught him by surprise and he tumbled back into the sand, still trying to reach the sandcastle while also trying to fight me off. He was much stronger than I was, and finally he reached out far enough to blow down the remains of the ruined castle.

"Oh!" I gasped as I looked down at him.

We had both stopped fighting but I was still sitting half on top of him. Our clothes were covered in dirt and even our hair was full of sand. He was smiling euphorically.

"You broke down my walls!" I accused him, looking at the pile of sand next to us.

He swiftly glanced at the sand too, but then turned his head to look at me again, his face instantly serious. His green eyes were staring into mine, and my breathing hitched.

"Yes." He whispered. "It seems I did…"

* * *

_Thank you for reading! New chapter tomorrow. :D_


	11. Letting Him In

_Hi folks! 8)_

_Thank you for the awesome reviews;_ **Temporaryinsanity91****, Jess, Maggiekiki, FRK921, Cookies1500, Hannah, Lizzy, Twilove615, Annatwilightfan, Gnomegirl13, Jm1708, Raybanlover, Porcelain-Shadow, Lauren **_and_** RangerRainbow! **_You all rock! :D_

_Over a hundred reviews! I don't know what to say, thank you all!_

_So, an adorable sandcastle-making Edward for Porcelain-Shadow and another digital Jasper for RangerRainbow!_ _And free, digital homemade apple pie for all my other reviewers!_

_Alright, some frequently asked questions:_

**Q:** _When is that kiss going to happen? :O_  
**A:** _Yeah, a lot of you are wondering about the kiss. I'm going to be honest with you guys, it's going to happen in three, maybe four chapters._ _Have some patience with me. xD There will be more Bella/Edward fluff before it actually happens, though. _

**Q:**_ ZOMG PLZ UPDATE SOON!!!  
_**A:**_ I just did, isn't that great. :')_

_And I'm glad that we all like the 'breaking walls' quote._

_To Temporaryinsanity91: It so happens that today is the day she's going to tell him about the story she is writing! And you're right, reading a story is more interesting when you can relate to the main character._

_To Gnomegirl13: Ehm, no, I've never read The Lake, but maybe I will as soon as I have time. xD_

_Enjoy chapter 11! :D_

* * *

**Letting Him In**

Edward and I were sitting down in the muddy sand, ignoring our destroyed artworks and staring at the waves. Naturally, Edward's castle hadn't survived after he had ruined mine. It felt so good, simply being close to him. He was sitting so close to me that our arms were touching, and I constantly felt the annoying urge to lean into him.

"I still think it's too bad about the castle's." Edward mused.

"Hmm yeah, too bad that our nations were at war, they could've done great things if they'd united." I joked.

"Yes! My prince could've married your princess, and together they would rule the biggest sand castle kingdom in the world!" He played along.

I nodded. "That would've been awesome, but that isn't going to happen anymore, I guess my princess is very mad at your prince for ruining the royal castle."

"No happy ending?" Edward asked, turning his head and staring at me. "I don't like that."

"No, me neither… I'm also a happy ending kind of person." I admitted, avoiding his eyes before I would start blushing, yet again.

"Are you? I wouldn't have expected that…"

"Oh but I am, when it comes to books and stories anyway…"

"So… does your story have a happy ending? I mean, that story about 'stuff' that you're currently writing." He asked unexpectedly.

"Ehm, I guess it does, considering the circumstances…" I paused, knowing that none of this would make any sense to him if I didn't fill him in on the global plot of the story, first. I had never shared this story with anyone, or any of my stories, for that matter.

Edward was waiting patiently, sensing the internal battle that I was fighting at the moment.

"You see it's about a girl… a normal human girl. She… she falls in love with a vampire." _See, that wasn't so hard, Bella._ Or maybe that was because it was _him_.

"Wow, wouldn't that be a problem? I mean, with her becoming his meal, and all that..." Edward said seriously.

I laughed out loud before explaining it to him. "Well you see, that's the problem, sort of. Although he only drinks blood of animals, because he's a good vampire, he still craves human blood, especially hers."

"I see… so what happens?" Edward still seemed truly interested, which surprised me.

"Well… he tries to stay away from her, because he's afraid of hurting her… But finally he realizes that he can't live without her anymore, and they get together. He learns that he can control his thirst for her blood…"

"Really? So is it finished yet?"

"Almost, I'm working on the last chapter as it is."

"Will you tell me how it ends?" He asked, smiling a very tempting smile at me.

I rolled my eyes, as if I could resist him. "He turns her into a vampire, eventually. That's what she wants after all, she wants to be with him forever. He's stubborn, and for a while he refuses to turn her into one of his kind, but in the end he does turn her."

Edward frowned. "I don't understand, if he loves her, why would he be so reluctant to having an eternity together with her?"

"Because he believes that he doesn't have a soul anymore, and he's afraid of taking away hers. He doesn't want to damn her to the same existence that he is forced to live."

"Ah… in that case I can understand his point… That sounds like an amazing story." Edward said, giving me another one of his beautiful smiles.

I swallowed loudly, trying to calm down my fluttering heart. "Thanks." I managed to say.

This story had been such a big part of my life for the last ten months, and it was almost a relief to share it with someone… to share it with _Edward_. I felt extremely light and without thinking, I did what my body had shouted at me to do for the last thirty minutes, I leaned closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

I was afraid about what his reaction would be, but I didn't get much time to worry, for he rested his head on top of mine without hesitating. "I'm sure you'll become a famous writer someday." He whispered into my hair.

xxx

I mindlessly stared out of the window of Edward's Volvo as we drove away from La Push. The rain had abruptly ended our little beach trip; something that was to be expected in the area around Forks.

"Do you want to go home?" Edward broke up the comfortable silence.

I thought about that… it was still early, did I want to go home? "Not really." I muttered. I didn't know what else to say_. I'm sorry, I don't want to go home, I'd rather stay with you for as long as possible._ That didn't sound right, at all… But it felt right, even though it was very unlike me.

"You can come home with me for a while… I believe Alice is also there…" Edward suggested, giving me an encouraging smile.

_Well that had definitely been easy! _"I would like that, if it's alright, I don't want to intrude or anything." I said quietly.

Edward turned to look me in the eye, one of his eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Bella, you're my friend, you're not intruding anything… I like having you around…"

My heart was hammering in my chest again at his statement, and I was at a loss for words. That happened a lot, lately. He always said sweet things like this, making me speechless.

"Thank you Edward… for everything, I mean." I whispered.

He smiled and slowly brought his right hand up to my face, before hesitantly stroking my cheek with the back of his hand, leaving a burning trail. "You don't have to thank me."

My skin was tingling at the exact place where he had touched it, and I had to stop myself from smiling like an idiot.

We arrived at the Cullen house around two, and after Edward had helped me out of the car, we walked up the porch steps of the beautiful mansion. He opened the front door, gesturing for me to go first, and I stepped into the large hallway that was slowly becoming more familiar to me.

"Anybody home?" Edward yelled in the general direction of the living room.

"In the kitchen, honey." I heard a gentle woman's voice call back.

Edward frowned and briefly glanced at me, deliberating. "Shall I introduce you to my mom?"

"Sure, I'd love to meet her."

"Come on then." He said, grabbing my hand, probably without thinking, and leading me towards the kitchen.

A beautiful woman with light brown hair was standing in front of the stove, stirring something in a saucepan. She looked up from her cooking and a smile broke across her face as soon as she spotted me.

"Aahw Edward, you brought a friend. Who's this?" She asked excitedly.

Edward gave me an apologetic grin, before answering. "This is Bella, mom."

"Ah, you're Bella! Edward here talks about you all the time, it's good to finally meet you." She said as she pulled me in for a hug.

"Mom!" Edward groaned.

He had talked about me! A lot! That was a good sign, right? "It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Cullen." I answered when she released me.

"Oh please, call me Esme, dear."

"Right, Esme." I repeated, smiling at her.

"Alright, I'll give you a tour of the house." Edward muttered, sounding eager to get away.

"You do that, sweetheart." Esme encouraged her son. "See you later, Bella."

I nodded. "It was nice meeting you." I said as Edward already started to tug me out of the kitchen.

"Well, that was embarrassing." Edward stated when we wandered back into the hallway.

"Why? I think your mother is really nice, actually." I argued, although I knew what he had been referring to.

"She is, but when she said... you know." Edward mumbled

I snorted. "I talk to Charlie about you, what's weird about telling your parents about your friends."

He seemed to relax immediately and he shrugged. "I suppose you're right… So, which part do you want to see first?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

I knew what I wanted to see, but I wasn't sure if he wanted to show me… "Well… since I've told you about my story… it would only be fair if you played some of your music for me." I started the negotiation, glancing at the huge piano to my right.

He was hesitating for a moment but then he grinned at me. "Don't expect too much of it." He warned me, but it was clear that I was going to get my way.

"I'm sure it's great, but you know what, I won't judge until after I've heard you play."

"Deal." He said, walking up to the piano.

He sat down on the bench and looked back at me, patting the space beside him. I slowly made my way over to the piano and carefully sat down next to him. He rested his hands over the keys and threw me a last wary look, before he started playing.

I was completely stunned when his music filled the room. How on earth could he believe that it was nothing special? It didn't just sound good, it sounded _amazing_, unlike anything I'd ever heard before. The music was sweet, and the melody sounded very complicated.

"Do you like it?" He asked as he continued to play. It seemed that he didn't have to concentrate at all, his hands were still swiftly moving over the keys while he turned away from the piano to look at me, the melody flowing on flawlessly.

I was barely able to speak. "It's so beautiful…"

He smiled crookedly. "Thank you… I'm glad you like it. This song is rather new, you know, I came up with this only a couple of days ago."

"Wow, that's amazing, Edward…"

"Yeah… well it was inspired by something that has been on my mind a lot, the last couple of weeks." He said softly as the melody drifted to an end.

"Oh…" I said in surprise. "And what would that be?" I asked, not caring that I probably sounded blunt for asking something so personal. I wanted to know what could've inspired something this beautiful.

He hit the last note and stopped playing, letting his hands fall down into his lap, and staring intently at me, his eyes almost a liquid green.

He cleared his throat and pressed his lips into a line before answering me. "You…"

* * *

_The beginning was a fade out and the ending is a cliffhanger, don't you just hate me? xD Thank you for reading, new chapter tomorrow! :D_


	12. The Deadly Warning

_Hey there! :D_

_Sorry for not updating yesterday, Document Manager was being a pain in the ass. x_x _

_Thank you so much for reviewing; _**Marian Hood,****Porcelain-Shadow, Lizzy, Jess, Anne, Raybanlover, Lauren, RangerRainbow, AlwaysYoursScincerely, Gnomegirl13, Jm1708, AngelaK779, FRK921, Temporaryinsanity91,****Anneclairev123, Cookies1500 **_and_** Twilight-Addict 1430! **

_Free digital hugs today! Because you guys are all awesome! 8)_

_And also… A digital, piano playing Edward for Porcelain-Shadow, and another digital Edward for Lizzy!_

_To Porcelain-Shadow: Yes, I know the song, it's composed by Yiruma. You're right, it's a very pretty song. :D_

_To Anne: Yay, someone from Germany! :D My German sucks, I used to be pretty good at it when I had German classes in school, but I haven't really used the language for over four years now, so I guess it sort of slipped away. xD It's cool that you like Dutch language, though. A lot of people think it's a lame language. (Including me. xD Nah, kidding.) As for your question, I rarely read English books, in fact, the Twilight books are the only books that I've read in English. xD_

_To RangerRainbow: Wow, thanks for all the compliments! :D_

_To AlwaysYoursScincerely: Hmm, yeah, that sounds about right. I hereby declare you; The world's first official FanficHead! :p_

_To Gnomegirl13: You're totally right about Bella! xD And at this point, I'm guessing the story will be around eighteen chapters, but it's a guess, it can always change._

_To Temporaryinsanity91: Of course they sparkle! :p_

_To Cookies1500: Bella has already met Emmett, in chapter four. And Carlisle… she will meet him soon enough, you'll understand at the end of this chapter. :p_

_So here is chapter twelve! Enjoy! :D_

* * *

**The Deadly Warning**

My heart skipped a beat. _Me?_ I had inspired the beautiful melody that Edward had just played? Was this guy even real? He was blurting out all his feelings to me, just like that. Although I was pretty sure that he only thought of me as a good friend, it was still very flattering. I truly didn't know how to react. Everything that I would say to him at this moment would sound extremely insignificant… I bit my lip as I looked up into his green eyes, I had to think of something to say. Right now.

I was saved by Alice who sprinted down the stairs. "Bella! You're here! Did you guys have fun at the beach?"

Edward groaned, glaring at his sister.

"What?" She asked innocently, totally oblivious to the intimate moment that had just taken place.

I snorted. "It was great, Alice, until the rain started pouring down."

"Oh yeah, that's a bummer… Hey, do you guys want to watch some movies with me? I'm bored, and there's no fun in watching alone." She gushed.

I glanced over at Edward, silently asking what he wanted.

He rolled his eyes, but sighed in defeat when Alice gave him the puppy eyes. "Fine, let's watch chick flicks, I really need some girl time." He muttered sarcastically.

"Yes! I was hoping you would say that, brother dear." Alice squealed, ignoring his sarcasm and grabbing my arm to drag me towards the living room.

The rest of the afternoon we watched movies, mostly chick flicks like Edward had predicted. I had a hard time since I was sharing a couch with Edward, and he was sitting too close to me. It was as if there was a certain electricity buzzing between us, and I wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him.

Alice glanced at us every now and then, a satisfied look on her face. I could understand why she was rooting for me even though Edward was way out of my league, I guessed she'd rather it was her friend dating her brother, than one of those other brainless bimbos…

Around six, Edward drove me home, and I had a weird feeling when he stopped in front of Charlie's house. The feeling that I didn't want to leave him, which was stupid, I had already been around him the entire day.

"Thank you for dropping me off." I said, reluctant to leave his car and trying to prolong my time with him, even if it was only for a few seconds.

"You're welcome…" He gazed at me and his silky voice was gentle, as were his beautiful green eyes. It made me even more unwilling to leave him.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." I muttered.

"Oh you definitely will… Is it tomorrow yet?" He joked, grinning at me.

"Unfortunately not." I mumbled, hoping that it wasn't loud enough for him to make out the words.

He chuckled, which made me think that he _did_ hear what I'd said. I quickly dropped my eyes, looking down at my hands.

My heart stopped for a moment when he gently placed a finger under my chin, lifting it up and forcing me to look at him.

"Don't hide away." He whispered, his face was so close that I stopped breathing altogether.

He had dazzled me once again, and the only thing I could manage to choke out was a shaky "Okay…"

"Good… It will be tomorrow soon enough." He murmured in his voice like honey. "Breathe Bella, and have sweet dreams tonight." He added, his breath fanning my face.

"Good… night, Edward." I took in a deep breath and my voice was trembling, how could he have such a huge effect on me?

I stumbled out of his car and waved one last time at him as he drove out of the street.

'_Walking on clouds…'_ I had used that phrase in a lot of my stories, always thinking that is was nothing more than a cheesy term to describe being in love. I knew better now, I was literally walking on clouds as I made my way to the front door.

xxx

Arriving at Forks High the next day was an unusual experience. The second I parked my truck and got out, Edward walked up to me, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" He asked, sounding genuinely interested to hear the answer to this question that was normally only asked out of politeness.

"Sure, great, how about you?" I replied, not really caring to share the fact that I had been awake most of the night, thinking about him.

"Not so bad. Although I'm wondering what's up with those black circles underneath your eyes, if you did sleep well…" He mused, an amused grin on his face.

I nearly collapsed when he lifted up his hand and lightly traced the dark space under my right eye with his fingertips.

"It's just the rain… when the weather outside is heavy, I'm very restless." It wasn't even a complete lie, normally that was the reason why I couldn't sleep.

"Ah I see…" He stared intently at me for a moment, as if he was trying to read my mind.

"I'll be fine, don't break your pretty head over it." I muttered as I rolled my eyes at him.

"Ha! So you think I'm pretty!" Edward suddenly exclaimed, smiling smugly.

I groaned in frustration; why couldn't I keep my big mouth shut? "Only a blind person would say that you're not pretty, Edward. You know very well that you're gorgeous, why do you think all those girls are chasing after you…" I reminded him, briefly wondering how I had come up with the courage to say that.

He raised one of his perfect eyebrows, giving me an incredulous look, but to my relief the bell rang before it could get any more embarrassing.

I think he could actually _hear_ the beating of my heart when he leaned closer to me, to whisper in my ear. "I'll save you a seat at lunch."

"Thanks. See you." I gasped, before we both departed to our own classes.

The rest of the day I did what I wanted to do, for once ignoring the dead glares that all the girls were giving me. I had lunch with Alice, Edward and even Emmett, who had also joined us. I ignored Jessica, Lauren and Katie, who were sitting at a table on the other side of the room, pointing and staring at me a few times.

Things were starting to get weird when Tanya Denali suddenly walked over to their table. Tanya rarely spoke to them, they didn't belong in her popular group, they were just wannabes. So it disturbed me when she sat down next to Lauren, and they started whispering, glancing at me every once in a while. It was clear what was happening here, Girl World was uniting against me…

I was contemplating whether I should tell Edward or not, but I decided to keep it to myself. He would probably think that I was paranoid, and I also didn't want him to worry about things that I might as well be imagining…

I told myself a million times to simply ignore them. It didn't matter right? I had every right to make friends, and what was the worst they could do? So maybe they would do something to embarrass me, but still, I would survive, and the people I cared about would never believe any of their rumors or mean tricks.

When the day came to an end and gym class was finally over, I swiftly walked out of the gym. I grinned instantly when I noticed that Edward was waiting for me outside, to my immense surprise.

"Hey you… What are you doing here?" I asked curiously.

"Hey… I wanted to see you before we go home… I thought, maybe I could walk you to your car?" His words came out as a question, and he frowned lightly, seeming a little uncertain.

"Oh, sure!" I blurted out quickly, letting him know that I liked his idea.

He walked me to my rusty truck and even opened the door for me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Bella." He was leaning against the open truck door and he briefly took my hand in his, squeezing it gently.

"Is it tomorrow yet?" I repeated his words from the day before.

He laughed a soft, musical laugh. "Almost, I think."

We said our goodbyes and I was deep in thought as I drove out of the parking lot.

I didn't notice that something was wrong, until I reached a traffic light. I automatically hit the brakes in a reaction to the red light, but then I realized my truck wasn't slowing down…

"Shit!" I cursed out loud.

I kept hitting the brakes in a wave of panic, but it was no use. The truck was mercilessly sliding towards the red light, and my eyes widened in horror when I spotted a minivan that I was going to hit without a doubt if I didn't do something right now...

I screamed in panic and steered to the left, missing the van by an inch, catching a short glimpse of the terrified look on the face of the woman that was driving it. Too bad I didn't have any time to stop my truck from crashing into the tree that suddenly appeared in front of me. I let out a last frightened scream before there was an earsplitting sound, and everything went black…

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_Yeah… so, I'll just go… hide in that cave again now. ^^" *Takes Edward with her* Just in case! :D New update tomorrow, stay tuned. xD _


	13. His Fault

_Hey guys! :D_

_Thank you so much for reviewing; _**Jrow1107, Twilight-Addict1430, Lizzy, Jess, Porcelain-Shadow, Jm1708, FRK921, Temporaryinsanity91, Gnomegirl13, Raybanlover, AlwaysYoursScincerely, Marian Hood, Lauren, Anneclairev123, RangerRainbow **_and_** AngelaK779! :D**

_Since a lot of people want to hide in a cave with Edward, a one week vacation in a hidden cave together with Edward for all my reviewers!  
And of course… a new digital Edward for Lizzy because I stole her Edward, one amazingly hot Edward whispering "Is it tomorrow yet?" when I say "See you tomorrow" for Porcelain-Shadow and another Jasper for RangerRainbow! xD_

_Also, thank you to all the other people who are reading this story!_

_To Temporaryinsanity91: Nooohz, please don't explode! You're right, that would be a mess. xD So here I am, updating. xD_

_To Raybanlover: Hmm, I definitely took my time writing this, maybe it feels that way because of the car accident at the end of the chapter. It's all like; boring schoolday, yada yada, and then suddenly: BOOM: CARCRASH. xD I guess I just wanted to make it unexpected. :p_

_To AlwaysYoursScincerely: Lol, you have some pretty evil ideas. :p And no, I don't enjoy other people's pain. :p_

_To Marian Hood: What happened in the end? Well, the evil girls have cut Bella's brake lines, so her brakes aren't working anymore. She steers away to avoid crashing into the minivan and misses it by an inch, but then she crashes into a tree…_

_Guess what? It is tomorrow now! :p So here is chapter 13!_

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**His Fault**

I slowly opened my eyes, feeling very confused as I took in my surroundings. I was lying in a bed that wasn't my own. The covers and pillows were white, and somewhere to my right there was a weird beeping sound. The rest of the room was also mainly white, except for the ugly curtains with red flowers on them. Being the clumsy person that I was, I was pretty well aware what this meant… I was in the hospital, again.

I had been here many times, but normally I was at least conscious when I arrived. What had happened? I tried to think back, and I suddenly recalled driving home from school. Car accident. Wonderful, another thing to add to my list of clumsy actions…

I was quite thirsty and tried to get up, but my sides and my head were hurting, forcing me to fall back against the pillows. I groaned and as if on cue, a middle aged nurse darted into the room, smiling at me.

"Hello honey, it's good to see that you're awake, how do you feel?" She asked, placing some pills on the small table next to the bed.

"I've been better." I admitted.

"Oh, I can imagine that." The nurse said. "You're lucky to be alive, you only have a slight concussion and some broken ribs, which is almost a miracle, considering the crash you've made."

"Wow, it must be my lucky day." I mumbled, not trying to hide the sarcasm.

The nurse ignored it and handed me a glass of water. "Here, take some of the pain medication, it'll help. I'll tell your father that you're awake, he went to get some coffee. Doctor Cullen will take a look at you in an hour."

I obediently swallowed the pills away with some water, while the nurse disappeared into the hallway.

A few minutes later Charlie came into the room, looking very concerned and… angry.

"Dad?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh Bells, I'm so glad that you're alright." He sighed and moved closer to the bed, carefully pulling me into an awkward hug.

I hugged him back and sighed, too. "I'm sorry, dad, I'm such a klutz, it's safe to say that it's a miracle in the first place that this was my first car accident ever."

He growled and released me, shaking his head. "That was no accident, Bella."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember what happened?" He asked warily.

"Yeah, the brakes weren't working anymore… just my luck." I explained.

"It had nothing to do with your luck, Bells, there was an investigation, the brake lines were cut… And I suggest you tell me right now who is responsible for that."

Uh oh, I could understand now why he had seemed angry… The brake lines were cut… well, no need to guess who did it. I was deliberating for a short moment, but I knew that it was time to bring out the truth. There were lives at stake now, not only mine, I could have killed the woman in the minivan, and god knows who else. It was hard to believe that they had gone this far to keep me away from Edward…

"Some girls at school… they don't really like me." I decided to keep it global, no need to tell him why.

"Which girls?" Charlie demanded.

"I'm not sure who cut the brake lines, dad, but I can give you the names of some suspects…"

"Do tell." He pressed.

"Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory, Katie… I don't even know her last name… and maybe… Tanya Denali." I blurted out.

"The same ones that stabbed your tires a few weeks ago?" Charlie guessed.

"Yeah." I admitted.

"But why?" Of course he had to ask me the one question that I wanted to avoid.

"I'm not sure… like I said, I guess they don't like me very much." That wasn't even really a lie, they hated my guts.

Charlie slowly shook his head. "I'm going to have some serious conversations with them and their parents." He assured me in a business like voice. _Chief Swan strikes again. _

"I'm sorry for not telling you, dad, I didn't want you to worry."

"This is not your fault, honey… I'll make sure it won't happen again." He stated firmly.

I nodded and smiled at him. "Thanks."

He was silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, before he snapped out of it and spoke again. "Well, I'm going to go back to the station now, so I can fill everyone in on the suspects… I'll be back later. Oh, and I'll tell Edward that you're awake."

"Edward?" I asked in surprise, sitting up straight in a reflex, ignoring my broken ribs, which were protesting to the movement.

"Yeah, he has already been here for hours, waiting for you to wake up… I know you're not a people person, Bells, but he really is a good friend."

"Oh I know dad, believe me I know." I assured him.

He smiled briefly before squeezing my hand and heading for the door. "I'll tell him that he can see you now… See you later, try to get some rest kiddo." He said before skipping out of the room.

Edward was here. He had been waiting here for me to wake up. That meant he _truly_ liked me, right? Why else would he bother?

"Knock knock."

My head snapped up at the sound of his voice and I smiled automatically as I spotted him, hesitating in the doorway.

"Edward!"

He gave me a tiny smile before gradually moving closer to the bed. He sat down on the chair next to it and his green eyes were troubled.

I didn't care about insignificant things like embarrassment anymore, and I reached out my arms to give him a hug. He helped me out by moving closer to me, his arms surrounding me and holding me close.

He buried his face in my hair, and soon his whole body was shaking. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was sobbing...

"Edward? Edward what's wrong?" I asked, tentatively stroking my hand through the bronze hair that I had wanted to touch for so long, in an attempt to calm him.

"I'm so, so sorry Bella." He choked out between sobs.

What was he talking about? Why should he be sorry? "What do you mean?" I asked in confusion, keeping him firmly locked in my grip.

"This…" He whispered. "This is all my fault. You could've died."

"Unless you were the one cutting my brake lines, which I highly doubt, I don't see how this is your fault." I said skeptically.

He had calmed down a little, and he let go of me, slowly sitting back in the chair, his watery eyes never leaving mine. "It _is_ my fault Bella, maybe not directly, but still entirely my fault… This would never have happened if I hadn't moved here… Your father told me what happened... It were the same girls that stabbed your tires right? Because you didn't stay away from me…"

I shook my head in disbelief. "You blame yourself for moving here?"

"No, I blame myself for interfering with your life, even after you had warned me not to. You were giving out clear signals from the start, signals that you wanted to be left alone. I was selfish and stubbornly ignored them, because I… liked you. And look what happened now." He was whispering at the end, staring at his feet.

With some difficulties I reached out my hand to take his, lacing my fingers through his, and he looked up at me. "You're not selfish, you're not even in the vicinity of selfish, I'm glad that you were so stubborn, Edward... I'm lucky to have you as my friend. I don't blame you for anything."

He sighed and gently started to rub circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. "I want to be around you… but your life is too high a price to pay. Maybe you were right, that time you told me to stay away from you."

I was aware of the fact that this was hardly the moment to tell him that I was in love with him, but I did want him to know how important he was to me. "Do you really want to know what I think?" I asked him cautiously.

He nodded almost invisibly. "I always want to know what you think, Bella."

"Well let me put it this way… I would rather have died today in that stupid car crash, than live a long life without ever knowing you. You made me feel again Edward, you made me see that it wasn't healthy for me to live in my own world, and I'm thankful for that every day."

He just stared at me in surprise and I hoped I hadn't gone too far. He slowly opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, when the door of the hospital room flew open and a man in a white coat gracefully walked in.

"Oh, hey Edward!" He said as soon as he noticed Edward sitting at my bed.

"Hi dad." Edward answered, moving his chair away from the bed to give him some space.

Of course, the nurse had mentioned it, Doctor _Cullen_. Edward's dad. It wasn't hard to see now where Edward got his good looks from, Dr. Cullen was handsome and looked very young for someone who was old enough to have a seventeen year old son. On the other hand, so did Esme.

"Hello Bella, I'm Carlisle Cullen, Edward told me a lot about you…" He said as he turned to me and held out his hand to shake mine.

"It's nice to meet you..." I replied as I shook his hand.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Alright, I guess… Except for the pain." I admitted.

Dr. Cullen laughed lightly. "Yes, I'm afraid that you will have to take it easy for the next few weeks."

I groaned. "Great."

"On the bright side, I came to tell you that your X-rays are looking good, all you need is a lot of rest. Of course it will take some time for your broken ribs to heal, and your head might hurt for a while."

I sighed, but nodded in defeat. "So when can I get out of here?"

"In a few days you can go home, but you'll still have to rest." Dr. Cullen informed me. "You can call the nurse if you want more pain medication, and I'll check on you tomorrow."

"Okay… Thank you."

He smiled at me before glancing at Edward again. "Don't keep her up too long, Edward, she needs her rest."

"Yeah yeah dad, I won't." He muttered.

"Good, take it easy and try to get some sleep tonight, Bella." Dr. Cullen said, before leaving the room.

Edward smiled at me, moving his chair closer to the bed again and resting his chin on my pillow. Since he wasn't halfway to China yet, I guessed that he didn't mind that I had blurted out my feelings to him before his dad had interrupted us. I turned my head to the side to look at him, and our faces were so close that our noses were almost touching. We stared at each other in silence for a while, until he broke it.

"You've heard what the doctor said, you should get some sleep." He murmured in his soft voice, his breath tickling my face.

"I don't want to sleep." I complained. I would rather stare into his beautiful eyes all night, not that I was going to own up to that.

He carefully stroked my cheek with his fingertips, as if he was scared that I would break. "Don't be so stubborn, Bella."

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" I asked, knowing that it sounded stupid.

"If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

I smiled, relaxing against the pillows and reaching for his hand again. He realized what I wanted and took my hand in his, resting our intertwined hands on the bed and placing his head on my pillow again. For a second I thought that it was a mistake to ask him to stay with me; how would I be able to sleep with him so close to me? But then he soothingly started to rub my hand and he softly hummed a song I immediately recognized. The song that he had composed because of me.

My eyelids started to droop and I kept concentrating on his voice until I was only half conscious.

Maybe I was hallucinating thanks to the pain medication, but before I slipped into unconsciousness I swore I felt him press a kiss against my forehead and heard him whispering; "Sweet dreams, my Bella…"

I wasn't sure if I could trust my brain at this moment, but the idea of being his definitely sounded good to me…

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_Aaahw, aren't they cute? :D New update tomorrow, thank you for reading!_


	14. Her Love For Him

_Hi there! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing;_ **Lizzy, Temporaryinsanity91, Raybanlover, FRK921, Jm1708, Jess, AutumnOtts, Sonea91, Gnomegirl13, Pokadot Queen95, Future Mrs. Taylor Lautner, Lauren, RaingerRanbow, Porcelain-Shadow **_and _**LoveTeamEdward!**

_You guys are all awesome! :D *More free digital hugs*  
And… a day with all the Cullens for Lizzy, a free digital Jasper and a cave for RangerRainbow :p, and an Edward to kiss her forehead for Porcelain-Shadow! xD_

_To all of you who said that the mean bitches need to die: I couldn't agree more! :D_

_To Jm1708: Yeah you're right, Charlie is very understanding. But he thinks Edward is a good guy, and he is glad that his daughter is finally making some friends. _

_To Jess: Yes I liked that part, too, about how she would rather die than not have him in her life. It reminded me of 'I'd rather die than stay away from you', which will also be included in this chapter!_

_To AutumnOtts: Wow, looks like I've earned a lot of stars yesterday! :D I especially like the gemstone stars set in platinum! Lol, thank you! :D_

_To Gnomegirl13: Are you kidnapping my Edward? :O Lol. xD_

_So here it is, the part that a lot of you have been waiting for! Enjoy people, thank you for having some patience with me and for loyally reviewing! You guys really motivate me to keep writing! This chapter is dedicated to all of you!_

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**Her Love For Him**

It had been a few days since the car accident, and I was finally home again. Of course Charlie had insisted that I should stay in bed, at least for one more week, but I was grateful to get out of the hospital.

It was Saturday, around half past two and I was currently lying in my bed staring at my own ceiling, instead of the one in the hospital. Alice had visited me this morning, but she'd gone home around lunchtime, and I was back to being bored.

I was starting to doze off when Charlie's voice startled me awake. He poked his head around the door and smiled at me. "Just checking if you were awake, Edward is here to visit you." He announced.

I grinned but tried to keep my voice indifferent when I answered him. "Send him up."

"Will do." Charlie replied, before closing the door.

I heard my dad walking down the stairs, and my heart started to speed up, anticipating Edward's visit. I had decided that now was the time to tell him I loved him, even though I was still scared as hell. No matter how long I would wait, it wouldn't get any easier, so what was the point in putting it off any longer?

There was a light knock on the door and I tried to sit up. "Come in!" I called, after taking a deep breath.

The door opened and Edward stepped into the room, giving me one of his charming smiles. "Hello there."

"Look at that, if it isn't my favorite person in the world." I said teasingly.

He smirked, gradually stepping closer to the bed and cautiously sitting down on the edge. "Is that so?" He asked, gently stroking a strand of hair out of my face, making me blush.

"Yes." I simply replied, putting my arms around his waist and pulling myself close to him.

He gently wrapped his arms around me, being careful not to crush any broken ribs, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "So, how are you feeling today?"

"Okay… more than okay at the moment." I confessed, hoping that he would get the hint.

"That's good to hear." He said, while his hands were repeatedly rubbing circles on my back.

We sat like that for a while, and I felt so whole, so complete. After a long moment he shifted his weight and he frowned in surprise as he noticed that he was sitting on something that had been lying on the bed. I bit my lip as I realized what it was. It was a printed version of some chapters from my story. I was currently editing some things on paper, out of pure boredom, since my headaches were making it impossible for me to look at my computer screen for longer than ten minutes, at the moment.

"What's this?" He asked, holding up the small stack of papers.

"It's… a part of my story, I was rereading some chapters, just checking if I need to make any more changes." I explained.

His eyes were sparkling as he glanced at the papers in his hands. "Can I read it?" He asked, giving me a pleading look. "Unless… Unless you don't want me to read it of course." He quickly added.

I snorted. "You already know how the story goes, so you might as well read it."

"Really? Then which part do you recommend I read first? Which one's your favorite?" He asked, handing me the printed pages.

"Let me see…" I mused, while flipping through the chapters. "I think this is the best part." I said, giving the papers back to him.

"And what is it about?"

"They confess their love for each other, and they figure out that they want to be together, even if it's going to be difficult." I told him quietly.

I felt a knot in my stomach, knowing that I still had some confessions of my own to make. I had truly intended to tell him today, but it seemed that I was going to chicken out again.

I mindlessly watched his flawless face while he was silently reading, and I was contemplating again. How should I tell him? I had tried several times, during the visits he had brought me in the last four days, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. How was I supposed to bring up something like this? _Oh hi Edward, nice weather… by the way I'm irrevocably in love with you. _That didn't sound well, at all…

My train of thought was interrupted when Edward's head suddenly snapped up. He was staring at me with a shocked look on his face.

I frowned in surprise; this was a very peaceful and romantic scene, what could he have possibly read that had disturbed him? I quickly glanced at the printed page on top of the stack, scanning for something that he might find offending. Then all of the sudden it hit me. My heart stopped as I read the sentence that he had most definitely been reading.

'_I'd rather die than stay away from you.'_ Elizabeth had said after confessing her undying love for Damian.

Nothing strange so far, except for the fact that I had said something exactly along those lines to Edward that first day in the hospital… _'I would rather have died today in that stupid car crash, than live a long life without ever knowing you.' _I flinched as I recalled my own words, Edward probably had a pretty good idea now, about what I'd meant the other day.

"Edward…" I began as I slowly lifted my head to meet his gaze. He was so close, and I was drowning in his green eyes. I couldn't make out any emotions on his beautiful face and my heart was practically beating out of my chest. "I love you… I'm sorry… You must be sick and tired of girls hitting on you… It's just, I don't know how it happened…" I whispered.

"You love me…" He replied in a gentle but questioning tone, while leaning even closer to me.

His lips were only an inch away from mine, and I had some trouble forming a coherent sentence. "I've never felt like this before in my life, Edward." I had also unconsciously leaned closer to him, and my lips were lightly skimming against his as I spoke, causing a tingling feeling.

There! I'd said it! The only thing left to do now was to wait for him to reject me in a subtle way, like the gentleman he was…

"You have no idea how happy it makes me, to hear you say that…" His warm breath washed over my lips as he spoke those words, and I nearly stopped breathing for a moment.

"You… you don't mind?" I asked, my voice shaking. I leaned back, creating some space between us before I would pass out.

"God, Bella are you for real? Of course I don't mind! I love you, it's good to know that you feel the same."

Edward Cullen loved me? Girls were literally throwing themselves at him, and he wanted to be with _me_?

"You love me? Then why didn't you say something?" I asked in surprise.

He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't sure how you felt Bella… at first, you didn't even want to be friends. And then… things were going so well between the two of us lately, I didn't want to scare you off again. But you have to know that you are my life now Bella, I'll love you forever…"

My heart fluttered at his sweet words. I had to be dreaming... But I certainly wasn't dreaming when he slowly closed the small distance between us and almost pressed his lips against mine, nearly causing me to collapse.

He leaned back slightly, before looking into my eyes and actually _asking_ me permission. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered.

He didn't have to ask me twice, and without hesitating I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning in to brush my lips against his. He responded immediately, and while his lips were moving with mine, my hands seemed to have a will of their own, knotting themselves into his messy, bronze locks.

Eventually, we had to break free for air, both leaning back a little in order to gaze at each other. Edward softly stroked my cheek before cupping my face between his strong hands. "Nothing bad will ever happen to you again, my Bella. Not if I can prevent it." His tone was confident and determined.

I was _his Bella_… I could sing… if I hadn't felt so dizzy. I groaned, irritated by my hurting head, and Edward chuckled softly.

"I think it's time for the patient to rest." He said, releasing me, and supporting me when I slowly sank back against the pillows.

"I don't want to rest… I want to kiss you again." I complained.

He smirked and rolled his eyes. "You know what? You'll do the resting and I'll do the kissing."

"That sounds like a reasonable agreement."

"Good, lay down and relax, love." He whispered.

I rested against the pillows and he hovered over me, careful not to crush me. He leaned in and gently kissed the tip of my nose, before kissing my forehead and my cheek. By the time he was kissing a path along my jaw line, I was near hyperventilation. Not that I was going to tell him that, he would stop his actions right away if he knew that I wasn't 'resting'. He kissed the hollow beneath my ear and after that he moved on to my throat, causing me to gasp when he placed kisses up and down.

His lips brushed against my pulse point and he laughed lightly. "I can feel your heart go wild, Bella, this doesn't count as resting."

"Who cares." I muttered.

"I care, I want you to get well soon." He answered my rhetorical question, getting up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed again. He leaned in one more time to briefly touch his soft lips against mine. "I think it would be best if you went to sleep now, love."

Sleep was the last thing on my mind at the moment. Except for the fact that I still felt too excited to sleep, I also had a lot of things to explain to Edward. He had a right to know why I had been so distant to him in the beginning... Why I'd acted like that towards everyone until he came along. I had never talked to anyone about my past, about my life before I'd moved to Forks, but for some reason I felt like Edward had to know.

"I don't want to sleep… There are so many things I still want to tell you. So many things I have to explain to you…"

"And you can tell them all, Bella, as soon as you feel better. As it is, I'll just accept that you love me, that's enough for now." He assured me, smiling crookedly at me.

I sighed but stopped arguing. Perhaps he was right, I had some rather heavy things to tell him, and it would be better to do that at a time when I wasn't already suffering from headaches and hurting ribs. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster that I was on at the moment.

"You win." I said, reaching for his hand. "I'll be a good girl and go to sleep."

He intertwined our fingers and smiled smugly. "Excellent. It's for your own good, you know. I'll go then, and I promise I'll be back after dinner."

"Is it after dinner yet?" I used our inside joke.

"The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner I'll be back." He replied teasingly.

"Now there's something to motivate me." I admitted.

He grinned and he leaned forward to place a kiss against my forehead. "Sleep well, my love. Dream happy dreams." He whispered before he got up and gracefully walked out of the room.

And I did just that, I slowly drifted to sleep and my dreams had never been happier…

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_Thank you for reading! New update tomorrow! :D_


	15. Her Real Story

_Hey everyone! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing; _**Pokadot Queen95, Lizzy, Jm1708, Sonea91, Porcelain-Shadow, Raybanlover, Temporaryinsanity91, AutumnOtts, FRK921, Jess, Gnomegirl13, Lauren, Elissa, LisaCA, RangerRainbow **_and_** Vamp4475! **_:D_

_All the enthusiastic reviews are making me very happy! *Hugs all her reviewers*_

_Also, a free digital cookie for Lizzy, and one Edward Cullen to kiss her jaw line for Porcelain-Shadow! And Lauren also gets an Edward, and for Elissa a Jasper dipped in chocolate with m&m's sprinkled on top (You're very creative.)! xD_

_It's good to hear that this story makes al lot of people's days. xD _

_To Jess: After today I'm guessing there are three or four chapters left. It's already in my head, I just have to see how it turns out when I write it down. :p_

_To Gnomegirl13: 200 cookies? :O That's a lot! Well… anything to save Edward! :p *Hands over 200 cookies* xD_

_To Elissa: Thanks for all the reviews and compliments! :D_

_Alright enough talking, new chapter, Edward gets to hear about Bella's past, which means that you guys do, too. xD_

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**Her Real Story**

It was Sunday, and after a week of being a prisoner in my own house, I was allowed out again. Charlie was still warning me frequently to take it easy, but at least I could finally get out of the house for a while. That was why I had called Edward this morning to ask if I could come over, and he had eagerly agreed, under one condition; He would pick me up and drive me home again. It was fine with me, I was grateful to get away.

Tomorrow I also had to go back to school for the first time, and that was the reason why Edward and I were currently sitting in his room behind his desk, working on some trig problems. I already sucked at trig, but now that I was also getting behind thanks to the accident, things weren't getting any better, so Edward was helping me to catch up.

He had already helped me a great deal this afternoon, but I was slowly losing my interest in trig and I stared at Edward as he was explaining an assignment to me, pointing out things in my workbook. He was frowning in concentration and mindlessly running his hand through his hair, making it even more messy, and it only made him look more pretty.

I leaned in, and placed a small kiss against his neck where I could reach him, before slowly kissing my way up to his chiseled jaw.

I heard him chuckle lightly. "I had a feeling that you weren't paying attention anymore, but now I'm sure that you didn't hear a word I was saying."

I pulled back and gave him my most innocent look. "I can't help it that you are so distracting, Edward."

He rolled his eyes at me. "I'm explaining a boring trig assignment to you, how distracting can it be?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"You have no idea… I need a break." I pouted at him.

"Yeah, you do look like you could use a break." He agreed, shoving his chair away from the desk and grinning at me.

He motioned for me to come closer and I eagerly got up and sat down on his lap, snuggling into his chest and making myself comfortable as his arms were snaking around my waist. Through the huge, glass wall in Edward's room I could see that the rain was pouring down, and a sudden, loud crash of thunder made me aware of the storm that was raging outside. Not that I cared, I was in the safest place on earth at the moment, Edward's arms. Or at least that was how it felt to me.

He started to plant kisses all over my face and I sighed in contentment. "I love you, my beautiful Bella." He whispered in my ear before kissing the hollow underneath it.

I didn't know what to say, he was just too perfect. Still, a part of me was scared that he would leave, someday. He had to get tired of me eventually, right? I didn't have anything to offer that could keep him with me. He was perfect, amazing, and I was none of those things.

"Please don't ever leave me, Edward." I mumbled, feeling a little desperate all of the sudden.

I felt that he abruptly stopped kissing me, but before I could worry his lips were at my ear again. "I'll stay with you forever, Bella. You're the only one for me, and you always will be. I'm yours, forever."

"I love you so much… A few months ago, I never would've believed that I could ever love someone like this." I said softly, pulling myself closer to him and nuzzling my face in his neck.

He lightly rubbed my back and quietly laughed his musical laugh. "Well, a few months back, you had a lot of personal problems."

"Yeah… I know… but things are much better now, because of you..."

He kissed the top of my head. "I'm glad I could help you. Which reminds me, didn't you want to talk to me about something? You mentioned that you wanted to tell me some things, that day when I first visited you at home. I mean, you don't have to…"

"Yes… I still want to tell you." I said quietly. "I think it's only fair if you know why I was being so rude to you. I want you to know my story… the real one, without the fairytales." I added, grimacing.

He just nodded, squeezing my hand in encouragement.

For a moment I was deep in thought, deciding where to start.

"Well, it starts with me, and my mom, living in Phoenix." I said after a short silence.

"Your mom?" Edward asked in surprise. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you've never mentioned her before."

"I know… I still feel guilty, every time I even think about her… you'll understand when I'm finished."

"Okay, go on, love, take your time."

"My mom left Charlie when I was only two years old, but it was better that way, it just didn't work out between the two of them… My mom, Renée, and I were pretty happy in Phoenix, and every summer I would visit my dad. Nothing weird so far, I got along great with my mother, and my life was pretty average, until…" I swallowed loudly, still feeling a little unsure. After all, it was the first time ever that I told this to anyone.

"Until?" Edward gently encouraged me in his velvety voice.

I sighed. "Until she got remarried to a guy named Phil. You know what the thing with Phil was? He seemed like such a nice guy when my mother and he started dating. He was nice to me, and I was even excited for my mom, I hadn't seen her that happy in a long time… Months went by and eventually, he moved in with us and Renée married him." I paused for a second, knowing that I was getting to the more difficult part of the story.

Edward carefully stroked my hair and pressed a kiss against my temple. "Something tells me that this story doesn't have a happy ending." He said, his green eyes were full of sadness, as if he could already sense what was coming.

"Not really, the worst part maybe, is that there is no ending at all… it's still going on as we speak." I muttered.

He looked confused, but I shook my head at him. "You'll understand later… Now Phil was a minor league baseball player, but he wasn't that talented and things weren't working out so well with his career. The first year of their marriage, he kept working hard and was fighting to make it, but after that he got more and more depressed. He started drinking, and most nights he came home late, too drunk to care about anything."

I took one of Edward's hands in both of mine, holding it so tight that I was possibly cutting off his circulation.

"It's alright, love." He whispered, trying to comfort me.

"The first night I realized that something was wrong, was when I was lying in my bed, and I woke up because I heard my mom screaming. Of course I got up to investigate what was going on… The screaming came from Renée's bedroom, and when I walked in I saw her… and Phil. She was sitting on the floor, against the wall, holding her hands up in front of her face for protection. He was enraged, and he was hitting her…"

Some tears were escaping me as I recalled the horrible image. Edward brushed them away with his free hand and almost invisibly shook his head. "I'm so sorry, love."

I shrugged. "It's not like it is anybody's fault… things like that happen every day, I guess."

"Still, to me it's different when they happen to you." He muttered.

I swallowed away the lump in my throat before continuing. "So… I did something really stupid. I was eight years old, and it was a natural reflex for me to protect mommy… I threw myself into her arms, and that's when he also started to hit me."

Edward cringed and held me even tighter. "How dare he… that… that…"

I placed a finger against his soft lips and he pressed them into a hard line.

"After the first time, it happened again, and again, and again… Every day I tried to convince my mom to leave him, every day I asked her to move, start a new life, without him. He was hurting her, hurting me, and ninety percent of the time, he wasn't even sober. But my mom wanted to stay with him, she said she couldn't leave him, that she loved him…"

"Oh Bella…" Edward whispered, he looked almost as broken as I felt at the moment.

"You know what the worst part is?" I asked him, almost whispering now.

"Even worse than what you've just told me?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes… I made an escape Edward… When I was old enough, and I couldn't succeed in convincing her to leave him, I went to live with my dad. I had nothing left in Phoenix, the kids at school were picking on me, or simply ignoring me because they thought I was weird. I was often covered in bruises and I felt miserable most of the time, I was an outsider. I needed to start over, and when she didn't come with me, I left her there, with him, to live with my dad. And you know what? I still feel guilty every… stinking… day…" I wasn't trying to hold in my tears now, guilt consuming me again as I told him everything.

He just held me close to him, whispering comforting things in my ear and brushing away more tears, and that was all I needed.

"So she is still living with him?" He asked after an immeasurable moment.

"Yes… From the day I moved in with Charlie, I still called or emailed her every day, continuing my attempts to get her away from him, but she doesn't want to leave him. I finally gave up, it has been four months now since I last talked to her… I can't convince her, Edward, and he's probably still beating her up on a daily basis."

"You shouldn't feel guilty, Bella. You've tried everything to save her… if she doesn't want to leave him, you can't help her. It's horrible, but you can't blame this on yourself."

"Maybe I can't, but it's how I feel… And I guess that all of this made me the way I am today. I didn't have that much decent people in my life until I moved to Forks… My stepfather turned out to be a violent jerk, kids at school were ignoring me or talking about me behind my back. I didn't want to put anymore energy into forming relationships with persons that were very likely to disappoint me." I explained in a trembling voice.

He sighed, hugging me again. "I'm so, so sorry about all you've been through."

"Don't be, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you're making my life better." I assured him. "You brought something positive into it, to chase away most of the negative. You showed me that there are good persons, ones I can trust. I never thought I'd find someone who was worth taking the risk, but you are, Edward."

He gave me a small smile, but his face soon was serious again. "And I promise you right now, that I will never, _ever_ let anyone hurt you again."

I had never felt so safe or protected, and I felt relieved, finally getting this out. Without thinking I crushed my lips to his, and he eagerly kissed me back. Our lips attacked each other until there was a knock on the door, before it violently slammed open. We were too late to pull away, and Alice, who had been the one interrupting us, frowned as she took in the scene in front of her.

"Oh… sorry! I should've known that you guys were making out." She said in a serious tone. She had been ecstatic from the second I had told her that Edward and I were together.

"Alice." Edward groaned, irritated.

"Nah, she's right, you know. That's what we do, we make out twenty-four hours a day. He was just explaining some trig assignment, but then I jumped him, and then we…" I trailed off suggestively.

"Oh, gross!" Alice exclaimed, missing the sarcasm.

Edward laughed quietly and glared at Alice. "So did you have a purpose, barging in here and disturbing our make-out session?" He asked, raising one of his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, brother dear, mom wants to know if Bella is staying for dinner."

"Are you?" He asked, turning his head to look at me.

"Ehm, sure, I guess Charlie can take care of himself for one night."

"Good, then it's settled!" Alice said enthusiastically. "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes, so you still have time left to… go over trig assignments." She added in a sarcastic tone, before rolling her eyes at us and departing.

"Got to love my sister." Edward muttered sarcastically.

I snorted. "Hmm yeah, I do love her."

"But you love me more, right?" He asked playfully, giving me an adorable look.

"No need to be jealous, silly Edward, you're the number one on my list." I said, leaning in to place another kiss on his pouty lips.

He smiled smugly. "That's all I needed to hear."

"So… what do you say we try to solve one more trig problem before dinner is ready?" I suggested.

"What do you say we forget about trig, and I show you how much I love you until dinner." His eyes were sparkling and he made his adorable face again.

"Yeah, let's go with your idea." I agreed.

He needed no more encouragement, and he touched his lips to mine once more.

Oh how I loved this guy… and the best part was, he loved me back. But a small part of me was worrying about how the other girls at Forks High were going to react to this new development, tomorrow…

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_Thank you for reading! :D New update tomorrow._


	16. Back To Reality

_Hi there! :D_

_Thank you for the awesome reviews;_ **AutumnOtts,** **LisaCA, Jrow1107, Jm1708, Lizzy, Jess, FRK921, Sonea91, Tori, Temporaryinsanity91, Raybanlover, Lauren, AngelaK779, Elissa **_and_** Porcelain-Shadow! **_:D_

_Free digital chocolate chip cookies for all my reviewers! And also… A kiss from Carlisle for Lizzy, and one Edward chocolate cupcake with sprinkles in the shape of a smiley face for Elissa! xD_

_To AutumnOtts: Real stars? :O Woohoo, that is pretty cool. 8) _

_To LisaCA: Thank you for all the reviews! :D I'm glad you like a lot of the lines I use. Although most of them pop up in my head, just like that. xD So it's not as genius as it looks. xD Sorry to keep you from your work, by the way. (a)_

_To Jm1708: Aahw, sorry for making you cry. :p Guess I've discovered another talent I didn't know I possessed. :p_

_To Lizzy: Hmm, how do I find the time to update daily? Well for one thing, I don't have a life. xD For another thing, I don't write in chronological order, so a lot of parts of the story were already written when I started uploading. Also, when I start writing a story, most of the time the entire story is already in my head, which makes the writing easier. Sometimes I feel like my head is really full, actually. xD_

_To Tori: You should always post your story, it's probably not as bad as you think it is! :D I always think my stories are crap, but people seem to like them. xD Also, there are a lot of nice people on this site who give useful advice and constructive criticism, so I guess it'll only help you to get better! :D _

_To AngelaK779: Lol, I wrote chapter 16 long before reading your comment, but it so happens that Edward does drive Bella to school. :p_

_Alright, __**general announcement:**__ This story is coming to an end, there are only a few chapters left. Which means that I'm not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow. I have some loose ends to tie up and I really want to get it right before I put it up here, so I'm hoping that you guys can understand, and have some patience with me. I will try to update tomorrow, but I can't promise anything this time._

_Okay, chapter 16, have fun!_

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**Back To Reality**

My hands were sweaty and my throat was dry. In a few minutes, Edward would be here to pick me up, and I had to face the horrors of Forks High. Or more specifically, the jealous crowd of girls that would most definitely be waiting for me there. Maybe there would even be some torches and pitchforks involved, but I wasn't going to be a coward. Edward Cullen was mine, and I wanted the whole world to know, no matter how screwed I was going to be.

I was just gathering my books, which were lying on the kitchen table, when there was a knock on the door.

"Come on in, it's open." I yelled.

I heard the front door open and when I looked up from stashing my books into my backpack, there stood Edward in all his perfection.

"Good morning, love… Are you feeling well enough to go back to school?" He asked, walking up to me and gently kissing my forehead.

"Hmm, yeah, physically I'm fine…" I assured him, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head against his chest.

He sighed as he hugged me. "Don't worry about those girls, alright? If any of them are trying to hurt you, or threaten you, or even glare at you… god knows I'll make sure that it's the last time _ever_, that they try something."

"Wow, it's good to know that I have my own personal knight in shining armor." I joked, burying my face in his chest and inhaling his sweet scent.

He snorted. "Let's go then, my beautiful princess, or we'll be late."

I lifted my head up to look into his glorious green eyes, and he smiled crookedly at me before leaning in and brushing his lips against mine.

"One day, you're literally going to give me a heart attack, you know that?" I muttered.

He frowned. "I certainly hope not… Okay, let's go, love." He said as he released all of me but one hand.

During the short drive I was saving up some courage to make it through the day. Sure, Edward had promised to protect me, but we had only one class together, which meant that he wouldn't be with me, most of the time. This was more than just getting bullied by some annoying girls, these people had attempted to kill me. Last week, Charlie had given them some serious warnings, and he had also talked to their parents. The problem was, there was no real proof on who did it. Anyone could've cut those brake lines, and my dad needed evidence before he could actually do something to stop them.

"You're worrying, Bella." Edward's voice interrupted my thoughts.

I hadn't even noticed that we'd already arrived at school and that he had parked the Volvo in his usual spot.

"No I'm not." I lied in a reflex.

"Liar." He muttered. "Come here, you silly girl."

Before I knew what was happening, his strong arms lifted me up and he pulled me to the driver's side, into his lap. I squealed in surprise and he grinned mischievously. The fact that we were stuffed together in a too small space didn't bother me in the slightest; being close to Edward was always a good thing.

"I want you to forget all about them, Bella. The only thing I want you to think about is _me_." He whispered.

His voice alone was enough to make me shiver. He started to place openmouthed kisses along my jaw line, while I concentrated on breathing. Mission accomplished, it was hard to think about anything but him, at the moment.

"They're pathetic and jealous, and they're not worth your time or energy." He mumbled against the skin of my throat.

I was sure that I was grinning like an idiot, until I spotted Lauren and Tanya, form the corner of my eye. I was just wondering if they had noticed us, when Tanya's mouth opened in shock and she threw me a glare. She smacked Lauren's arm, who also turned to look at us now, a disgusted look on her face. Edward was oblivious to the whole situation, and he continued to kiss a trail along my neck.

"Hmm… Edward… stop." I mumbled reluctantly.

He pulled back, giving me a questioning look. "Why?"

"Because if looks could kill, I would definitely be dead by now." I informed him, pointing out Lauren and Tanya who were glaring at us.

He groaned. "Who cares about them! You're mine, and I don't care if the whole world knows."

I saw that Tanya and Lauren weren't looking at us anymore, they were heading for the school building, exchanging dark looks and urgently talking to each other.

I sighed and swiftly pecked Edward on the lips. "You're right, let them talk. I can't let them control my entire life."

He smiled and nodded appreciatively. "That's the spirit!"

"Yes! I'll survive." I said sternly, rather trying to convince myself than Edward.

Edward walked me to my first class and kept telling me repeatedly that I should warn him the second someone tried to threaten me. I assured him that it would be fine. I didn't want him to worry about me, he couldn't help it that his girlfriend was a pathetic loser who happened to be the target of the popular girls.

My first two classes went by uneventful, and I slowly started to get more relaxed. I was on my way from trig to Spanish, when Lauren and Tanya suddenly appeared in front of me in the crowded hallway. Seconds later they were flanked by Jessica and Katie, who were giving me death glares.

"Hello Bella." Tanya spat out my name as if it was something disgusting.

I rolled my eyes at them, not really in the mood to keep up a polite charade.

"Be like that, I think it would be smarter for you to be nice to us." Lauren scolded. "And if I were you, I'd make sure that your daddy, the cop, leaves us alone."

"Or what, you'll try to kill me again?" I snapped at her in a reflex. "It's sick, the things you people do, trying to keep me away from Edward. It won't help anyway, he wants me, no matter what you do to me, so go ahead."

Jessica raised one of her eyebrows, a look of surprise on her face. "You don't even care about your own life?"

I deliberated for a short moment, deciding that being honest was the best thing to do. "My life would suck without Edward, so I'm not staying away from him." I told her. I told them all.

Tanya frowned, but Lauren snorted and threw me an evil smirk. "Your own life might not be that valuable to you, but what about Edward's?" She purred.

I gasped, realizing what she meant. "No! Leave Edward alone, don't hurt him…"

Tanya had also caught on and she laughed lightly. "We won't hurt him, silly… if you stay away from him." Her voice sounded almost friendly, but the hard look in her eyes made it clear that the threat was very serious.

"That's… sick, I thought you guys liked him? That's the reason I had to stay away from him in the first place, right?"

Lauren just shrugged. "Maybe, but I'd rather see him dead than dating you. So if you want your Edward to be safe, I suggest you break up with him. Accidents do happen, you know…"

I couldn't form a response, and Lauren, Tanya, Jessica and Katie used that opportunity to turn around, before departing to their next class.

"Remember what we said!" Tanya called at me over her shoulder, in a tone that sounded like she was reminding a good friend about some upcoming party.

"Excellent. Just great…" I mumbled to myself.

"Come back here! All four of you!" I flinched as I suddenly heard his loud voice from behind me.

All four girls turned around in a reflex and they warily looked at each other, before slowly making their way back to where I was standing, in the middle of the hallway.

I'd never been scared of Edward, but he sounded pretty scary right now. I turned my head and looked up at him, his expression was furious, his eyes were darker than I'd ever seen them. The death glares that the girls were usually throwing me, were like friendly smiles compared to the look on Edward's face right now. He gently grabbed my wrist, pulling me back slightly as if he wanted to shield me from them.

The girls came to a stop in front of us and Tanya was the bravest. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?" She asked Edward in a sweet voice.

"As a matter of fact there is. None of you appear to be very intelligent, so I will explain this in a simple way, to make sure that all of you can keep up… _Hurt Bella, and I will hurt you._ Did I make myself clear?" His voice was low and menacing, and I had to keep in a laugh as I noticed that Jessica shivered involuntarily. Katie was even trying to _hide_ behind Jessica.

"Are you threatening us?" Lauren asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"That proves my point, right there! Even my simple explanation seems to be too complicated for you, if you still have to ask me that." He snapped at her.

Tanya rolled her eyes and sighed. "Calm down, Eddie. It doesn't have to be like this… do you really want to join this war? We could have so much fun together, you didn't seem to object when we were kissing..." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and I groaned in irritation.

"You attacked me, Tanya, that's a whole different thing." He growled. "And if you're forcing me to play along with your stupid games, bring it on! Because I'm better at those games than any of you."

"Whatever." She grumbled.

"Well if that's the way you want it, you'd better watch your back." Lauren shot one last warning at him before patting Tanya's arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Yes… I will watch my back, and I suggest all of you do the same." He retorted.

The girls gave us some more glares before swiftly walking away.

Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his chest, kissing the top of my head.

"Thank you." I muttered.

"Anytime… We have to get to class, we'll talk about this later."

"Right… later." I dumbly repeated his words, feeling a little dazed.

We both went to our own classes, and during Spanish I was racking my brain for a solution, but I came up empty. At least I had decided one thing; I wasn't going to stay away from Edward this time. If we were both victims, it was probably better to stick together. I would see him again at lunch, and we could talk about how we were going to handle this new problem.

xxx

"They said what?!" Alice exclaimed furiously.

I was sitting at a lunch table with her, Edward and Emmett, and we had just informed Edward's siblings about the latest plans of the skank-army. Edward sat next to me, holding my hand tightly and Emmett and Alice were sitting across from us.

"I think Bella's basically saying, that some girls are threatening to harm her, and our brother." Emmett answered Alice's rhetorical question. "Not that I would let anything like that happen, I'll just strangle them and then…"

"Emmett!" Alice interrupted him tiredly. "You'll never get away with that."

"Who cares, those chicks are nuts!" He argued.

Edward had been very quiet, but sighed as he warily watched his bickering siblings. "We'll just have to wait and see… Bella and I aren't going to stay away from each other, and that's final." He stated firmly.

"I didn't plan on staying away from you." I assured him. "But I'm scared, what if they try something to hurt you… Maybe they'll cut your brake lines, too."

Edward rolled his eyes. "No offence Bella, but my car is a bit more modern than yours, I have a convenient red light on the dashboard to warn me if something is wrong."

"Oh… I didn't know that… I'm a girl, so I'm not exactly a car expert."

"But you are aware that your truck is sadly outdated, right?" Emmett said in a teasing tone, before he laughed out loud at his own joke.

"Very funny." I muttered sarcastically.

"Hmm, come to think of it, won't you let me buy you a nice car that's safer than the red monster you're currently driving?" Edward pleaded.

I snorted, my car was even more beat up after the accident, but it was still driving. "No way, Edward, you're not going to give me something as expensive as a new car."

"Guys!" Alice's loud voice interrupted or little discussion. She had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes.

"Alice?" I repeated in the same chipper tone that she had used, causing Emmett to chuckle.

She stuck out her tongue at me, before continuing. "I've got a plan! These girls, they're mean, but they're not very smart, not very original, and… they're girls."

"What do you mean?" Edward asked in confusion.

"Well… we could throw mud, yell at them, return some threats… but to effectively do something about this, we have to catch them in the act…"

I nodded. "Sounds good to me, what do we have to do?"

Alice smirked. "You and Edward don't have to do anything. Well.. you have to act like you normally do, that means a lot of hugging, holding hands, _kissing…_"

"But they'll go berserk." I complained.

"Yes! And that's exactly what we want them to do…" Alice mused, a knowing smile on her face.

I still didn't understand completely what she meant, but if there was one thing that I had learned during these last two months, it was to _never_ bet against Alice…

Our plotting was interrupted when a beautiful, blonde girl tapped Emmett on the shoulder. _Rosalie Hale._

"Rosie!" Emmett exclaimed in his booming voice. "Where were you?"

She sighed. "Mr. Varner, you know the trig guy, made me stay behind. Complaining about my results again… I just hate trig, and I hate him!" She grumbled.

"Aahw, that mean guy." Emmett said, taking her hand and shortly squeezing it.

"Bella and I feel your pain." Alice assured her.

Rosalie turned to look at Alice and grinned. "That means that it's not us, but him."

I had never really talked to Rosalie, after all she was with the popular people, and I'd never been, or even tried to be, a part of them. Right now she seemed normal enough, though. She even looked a little nervous, still standing next to Emmett, fumbling with a book that she was holding in her hands.

There was a short silence before she spoke again. "Is it… is it okay if I sit with you guys? If you don't want me to, just say so… It's just… me and Tanya aren't really getting along anymore… She's changed, doing… things that I don't want to be involved in."

I was nothing but amazed when I heard the popular Rosalie Hale stumble like that, asking us if she could sit with us.

Alice threw us some questioning looks and I shrugged and nodded. Edward had been waiting for my reaction but he also shrugged, letting Alice know that he was alright with it.

"You can sit with us… under one condition!" Alice said with a smug smile.

"Oh, what would that be?" Rosalie asked in surprise.

"Will you introduce me to your brother some time?" Alice blurted out, her face turning red as she threw a brief glance at the table were Jasper was sitting with some friends.

Rosalie laughed and nodded. "Sure, I'll introduce you guys."

Alice giggled and clapped her hands. "Then it's a deal."

I rolled my eyes at Alice. "Is there something that you want to tell me?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Maybe." She muttered, still grinning like a maniac.

"You like Jasper Hale!" I accused her.

"Shhht!" She hissed.

"Right." I mumbled, remembering that his sister was sitting at our table now. "I'll grill you later!"

When lunch break ended, I was taken by surprise once again, when Rosalie tentatively walked up to me.

"Can I speak to you for a moment, Bella?" She asked, giving me a small smile. It seemed genuine, no hidden traces of evilness.

Edward was holding on to my hand as if the world would cease to exist if he let go. "Only if you want to, Bella." He said simply.

"Sure, you go ahead, I'll see you in Biology." I replied, pecking him on the cheek. He hesitantly made his way out of the cafeteria, glancing at me from over his shoulder a few times until he was out of sight.

"Alright, let's hear it." My words came out more confident then I would've expected.

"I just… wanted you to know that I'm pretty well aware of how some girls are hoping for your not-so-far-in-the-future demise, only because you're dating Edward. I don't agree with them Bella, there's a reason why I don't want anything to do with them anymore. They've all changed, and messing up other people's lives just for fun, that's not me... You must have a pretty bad image of me, but I think I don't really fit into the same group as them…" It was a mystery to me, how she was able to blurt out so many words in one breath.

But I believed Rosalie... She had never said one wrong word to me, and she'd never been a part of the whispering and glaring groups of girls. "It's alright… I'm glad you're choosing your own path, instead of just going along with their new attitude. Besides, it seems that our boyfriends are brothers, which makes us practically family." I joked to lighten the mood.

She grinned and nodded in agreement. "You're right, that's true."

"Great… so… can we try to be friends?" I asked, almost shocked at my own words. This was the new me, a few months ago, those words would have never left my mouth.

"Yes… I would like that. Maybe you, me and Alice can form our own group to make evil plans against Mr. Varner!" She joked.

I snorted. "Sound like a plan. Teaching trig should be a crime."

The last warning bell rang, and we looked around the now empty lunchroom.

"We should get to class, or else our first bonding time together will take place in detention." Rose stated.

"Good point… I'll see you later!"

"See you!" She replied, grinning at me one last time before we each went to our own classes.

Another lesson learned today… When people surprised you, it didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Rosalie Hale had definitely surprised me in a good way, and it felt like for once, everything was going my way.

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_Thank you for reading! :) I promise to update soon!_


	17. The Main Suspect

_Hi guys! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing, I got out of bed this morning and when I checked my email I saw that I had no less than 35 emails from fanfiction[dot]net. It made me feel very loved. xD_

_So special thanks to;_ **LisaCA,** **Jm1708, Jess, Miekje1199, Nickyblueeyes913, AutumnOtts, Lizzy, Earth-fairy2006, Elliscardwell, Temporaryinsanity91, Elissa, FRK921, Annatwilightfan, Hannah, Raybanlover, Pokadot Queen95, LoveTeamEdward, Lauren, Sonea91, AngelaK779, Jrow1107 **_and _**RangerRainbow! **_:D You guys are the best!_

_Also a big thank you to everyone else who is reading this story!_

_Digital strawberry ice-cream for all my reviewers! And also… one kiss from Jasper for Elissa! xD_

_Alright, some frequently asked questions and some other things that most of you might want to know:_

_**Q:**__ Will there be more Jasper in this story?  
__**A:**__ Maybe, I'm not quite sure yet, at least he will be mentioned again, but this is one of the small details that I haven't worked out yet. _

_**Q:**__ Will Alice get a piece of the action?  
__**A:**__ Definitely! :D_

_**Q:**__ How long is this story going to be?  
__**A:**__ I've worked everything out now and it's all in my head. :D After this there are three more chapters left, which means that this story will have a total of 20 chapters. _

_**Q:**__ Will there be an update tomorrow?  
__**A:**__ Again, I can't promise anything, but I'm trying my best, as usual!_

_Other than that, I'm glad that you all liked the part with Rose! :D _

_To Nickyblueeyes913: Thanks for catching up with the story and leaving all those reviews! :D_

_So here is chapter 17! Enjoy the peace and fluff, before the ass-kicking starts, next chapter. :p_

* * *

**The Main Suspect**

I was grateful that the mean girls stayed away from me for the rest of the day. When I stumbled out of the gym, a result from falling over while I'd walked over to the bench where the coach had told me to sit so I could watch the basketball game, Edward was waiting outside for me, casually leaning against the building.

He sighed and lightly shook his head when he spotted me. "Did you hurt yourself, again?"

"No, I like to awkwardly hop like this for no reason at all." I replied sarcastically.

He chuckled in amusement. "I thought you only were allowed to _watch_ gym class, for the next three weeks?"

I rolled my eyes. "I am, but you know me, I still manage to trip over air. It's fine though, this way I can practice my stumble-qualities."

"Don't worry, you won't have to stumble anymore." He said with a smirk on his face.

I didn't even get a chance to ask him why, as he immediately walked up to me, scooping me up into his arms, bridal style.

"Edward!" I squeaked in protest. "You can't do this here, we're at school." I hissed at him.

"So?" He challenged me. "You're injured, I'm doing this to help a fellow student, aren't I a model student?"

"Yeah, you're too good for this world." I mocked him, giving up and locking my arms around his neck to support myself.

I couldn't suppress a giggle when he carried me to the parking lot, ignoring the weird looks that people were throwing us.

"I'm also doing this to help Alice, you know." He said conversationally. "This surely ought to help her with her big plan, it'll make them jealous as hell."

"Probably… although I'm not sure if I want that." I mused, just as we passed Tanya, who was staring at us with an angry expression on her face.

"I'm not sure either, but I think Alice has a point. They'll do something evil sooner or later, it's best to catch them in the act as soon as possible, get it over with. And believe me, nothing sets off a reaction like this, did you see the look on Tanya's face?" He carefully set me down on my feet, next to the passenger side of the Volvo, opening the door for me.

"Yeah I saw it, it was hard to miss."

"Let her glare, she's angry because she wants the one thing that you have, and that she will _never_ have." He helped me in and kneeled next to the open door.

"You." I muttered.

"Exactly." He whispered as he leaned in, one of his hands reaching behind me to buckle me in. He was very close to me and his sweet scent surrounded me, causing my head to swim.

"Maybe you should kiss me, you know, just in case, if one of them is looking our way." I suggested in an innocent tone, very willing to work on Alice's plan, all of the sudden.

"One of the best ideas I've ever heard." He leaned in and pressed his soft lips against mine, making butterflies bounce around in my stomach.

He smiled smugly when he pulled away, lightly stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. "Let's get you home." He said cheerfully, getting up and closing the door.

I watched him while he walked around the front of the car, a huge grin on my face. I felt like he turned all the wrong in my world into right. He made me forget about all the bad things that I'd ever been through in the past, en made me forget my current problems. I'd never considered myself the lucky kind, but at this moment, I realized that I was one lucky girl…

xxx

"Will you come in and help me with some more trig problems?" I asked as Edward parked the Volvo in front of Charlie's house.

"Sure." Edward complied instantly.

"Maybe you could also… stay for dinner." I suggested, fumbling with the zipper on my backpack. "Unless you feel like it's still too early to officially meet my dad."

"Of course I'll stay for dinner, I'd love to officially introduce myself as your boyfriend." Edward said, giving me his crooked smile.

"You know that he's the chief of police, so you're going to get grilled as soon as the word 'boyfriend' is out, just so you know." I warned him.

"I think I can handle it." He assured me with a wink.

The rest of the afternoon we were sitting at the kitchen table, our books spread out in front of us. Edward was a great tutor, and I noticed that most of the assignments slowly started to make more sense to me.

Around five I started making dinner and Edward watched me while I was slicing tomatoes for the spaghetti sauce. "Should I help you?" He offered.

"No it's fine, you've done enough to help me."

"Alright then." He started to clear the table that was covered with our school supplies.

He also helped me set the table, and when Charlie got home around six, I didn't even feel nervous, like a normal girl would be when officially introducing her boyfriend to one of her parents. I had a pretty good feeling that he and Edward would get along just fine… after all, what was not to like about Edward? Besides, he had mentioned before that he thought Edward was a 'good friend'.

It turned out that I'd been right, Edward had immediately shook hands with Charlie and politely introduced himself as my boyfriend, and Charlie smiled approvingly at me when Edward wasn't looking.

The conversation flowed freely while we ate our spaghetti and Charlie asked Edward a lot of regular questions about him and his family. I was feeling relaxed and happy, glad that this had turned out so well. Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long. The subject of the girls damaging my car was accidently brought up during the conversation, when Edward and my dad talked about that first time they'd met in the hospital, causing Edward's jaw to clench, and bringing back the knot in my stomach.

"I can't believe girls like that, if only we had some evidence… so they could rot in jail where they belong." Charlie grumbled.

"I couldn't agree more. It's sick, and of course I'm doing everything I can to prevent them from harming Bella, but you'll never know when they strike again." Edward agreed, frowning slightly.

"I'm very thankful that you're looking after my girl." Charlie replied, sounding very sincere.

Edward grinned at him. "My pleasure, sir."

I coughed. "The girl is right here in the room." I reminded them.

They both laughed and I sighed dramatically, getting up in order to clear the table, and starting the dishes while Edward and Charlie chatted some more. It was good to know, that my dad not liking my boyfriend was one problem that I could scrap from my list.

Edward stayed a little longer, to watch some baseball game with my dad. I didn't like watching sports, but sitting next to Edward on a couch while he was holding my hand and whispering something sweet in my ear every now and then, was definitely enjoyable.

Around ten Edward left, and Charlie gave me his full approval, telling me that he thought that Edward was a 'good kid'. His words, not mine.

I went to sleep with a giddy feeling, and once again, the mean girls were forgotten thanks to my amazing boyfriend. Although I knew pretty well that they were going to be very real when the morning came and I had to spend another day at Forks High…

xxx

The evil girls were keeping themselves quiet, at least until lunch break. Me, Edward, Emmett, Alice and Rosalie were sitting at our usual table, Emmett and Edward talking about last night's game. Rose and I were talking about a book that we had to read for English class, and Alice was unusually quiet and on edge, shifting in her chair. Her eyes were everywhere but on our own table, and I realized that she was watching the table where Tanya and Lauren were sitting, like a hawk.

"It's going to happen soon, I just know it!" She suddenly interrupted all the conversations at the table in a loud voice.

"What's going to happen?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Oh right." I muttered, realizing that we hadn't told her what was going on. "You remember about my accident?"

Rose nodded.

"That was not an accident." Edward grumbled.

"Relax, grumpy, I'm just explaining it to her." I said teasingly, patting his head.

"I heard about that, you crashed into a tree, right?" Rose asked.

"Yes I did, because the brakes weren't working. And they weren't working because someone had cut them."

Rose gasped in shock. "But that's dangerous, you could've been killed… Who would do something like that?'

Alice shrugged. "We can't be a hundred percent sure, but Tanya and her new set of friends are very high on our list of suspects."

Rosalie nodded in understanding. "Yeah… they truly do hate you, Bella."

"Although there's one thing I still don't understand." Edward mused. "They're not very smart, they're girls… where on earth did they learn to cut brake lines in an effective way?"

We were all surprised when Rose answered him instantly. "Oh that's easy. Tanya has an older brother who is a mechanic, she could've simply asked him how to do it."

"Of course, I know that guy! Austin Denali, I bought my jeep at his garage!" Emmett exclaimed.

"Oh my god!" Alice squeaked. "This officially makes Tanya our main suspect!"

"Does this mean I can kill her now?" Edward asked in a strained voice, pressing his lips into a tight line.

I shook my head at him. "No… that would make you as bad as they are, you're not a murderer."

Alice also shook her head, but her eyes were blazing with determination. "We're not going to use any violence… But Tanya Denali is in most of my classes, and I'm not going to let her out of my sight for a second. Sooner or later, she is going to try something stupid, and when she does, I'll be there to catch her…"

* * *

_Thank you for reading, I promise to update soon! :D (And I always keep my promises. xD)_


	18. The End Of The Game

_Hey folks! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing; _**Jm1708**, **Mj, Temporaryinsanity91, Vamp4475, Dandoune, Porcelain-Shadow, RangerRainbow, Sonea91, Hannah, Jess, Broken Soup, Raybanlover, Jrow1107, J5girl31012, Gnomegirl13, FRK921, Lizzy, LisaCA, Lauren **and** AutumnOtts! **_:D _

_All those nice reviews really made me smile, so free hugs for all of you!  
And also… A rough kissing Edward for Porcelain-Shadow, digital chocolate ice cream for Hannah, a free digital bucket of cubed ham (xD) for Gnomegirl13, and a Jasper to help Lizzy to go to sleep! xD_

_To Jess (and to make this clear to all of you): Tanya's brother Austin is not the bad guy here. He just happens to know a lot about cars, he doesn't go around cutting people's brake lines. xD Tanya used some excuse to ask him how she could do it… _

_To Broken Soup: Yes you're right, I hate to drag out the storyline up until the point where it doesn't even make sense anymore, just for the sake of making the story longer. xD_

_To Gnomegirl13: I feel your pain, my computer is being stupid all the time. xD Thanks for giving Edward back! :D And I will start another story… as soon as I get an idea that I like. :p_

_To LisaCA: Yeah, I liked that part, too. :D And I'm glad that all of you like the interaction between Charlie and Edward. I really saw no reason why Edward and Charlie shouldn't get along in this story… so that's why. xD_

_To Lauren: Lol, yes this chapter will have some more 'CSI'. :p_

_To AutumnOtts: The moon! :O That's a pretty big present. Thank you! :D_

_So here it is, chapter 18, enjoy!_

* * *

**The End Of The Game**

A few weeks ago, Biology had been one of my most dreaded classes. Right now, it was my very favorite class, since it was the class where Edward sat next to me. We were currently watching some boring movie on the old television with VCR that Mr. Banner had placed in front of the classroom. Most of the students were staring at the screen with a blank expression, pretending not to be in an impossibly deep coma. Not that they needed to pretend that they were watching, Mr. Banner wasn't paying any attention to his students, he was grading papers.

I was starting to doze off myself, when Edward suddenly placed a note on my desk. I turned my head to glance at him, raising my eyebrows and giving him a questioning look.

"Read." He mouthed.

I frowned, folding out the note and reading the small sentence that was written in his elegant script.

'_Did I tell you that you look breathtakingly beautiful today?'_

Sure enough, I blushed furiously, and I heard his soft chuckle. I stuck my tongue out at him before grabbing the pen from his desk and writing a reply.

'_No you didn't, but it's nice to hear it… You don't look so bad yourself, but I don't know if that counts, seeing as you always look gorgeous.'_

Making Edward Cullen blush was a nearly impossible task, but I did it, it was a small blush, but a blush nonetheless.

He took the pen and started writing again, shoving the small piece of paper back to my desk when he was done.

'_I wish we weren't stuck in this classroom, then I could kiss you.'_

I swallowed loudly, imagining the feeling of his lips against mine.

'_Me too.' _Was my lame response.

He grinned at me, and he placed his right hand over my left one, which had been lying on the desk. I smiled back at him and he flipped my hand over and started to trace patterns into my palm with his index finger. I watched curiously as he started to write imaginary letters into my palm. _'I love you' _they spelled. I laced my fingers through his, tightly holding on to his hand, sighing in contentment.

The entire class, including Edward and I, got a wakeup call when there was a small knock on the classroom door. The door opened and all students automatically turned their heads to see who the intruder was. I did the same, and frowned when I recognized the person standing in the doorway.

It was Alice, she looked a little flustered but her voice was firm and determined when she addressed Mr. Banner. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but principal Greene wants to talk to Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, he sent me to get them."

I racked my brain, searching for something that I could've done to get into trouble.

"Oh sure, Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan, you may go ahead." Mr. Banner said, looking up from the papers and waving dismissively with his hand.

I threw Alice a confused look. "What's going on?" I silently mouthed at her.

She shook her head almost invisibly but winked at me, making me even more confused.

We both gathered our stuff before swiftly skipping out of the Biology classroom, and some students were glancing curiously at us as we passed them. When we were safely outside the room and Alice slammed the door shut, she rolled her eyes.

"Loser, that guy. Seriously, who falls for this 'the principal sent me' –excuse." Alice muttered.

"Ehm, me?" Edward said.

"And me, what the hell are you talking about, Alice?" I asked, getting more confused by the minute.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Obviously, the principal wasn't the one sending me, I sent myself." She announced smugly.

"Are you going to tell us why?" Edward asked tiredly.

"Yes, Tanya is in my Spanish class, and suddenly she claimed to be feeling sick. She asked Mrs. Goff if she could go see the nurse. Of course I didn't believe her, so we're going to find her and see what she's _really _up to."

"And how did _you_ get out of class?" I asked, wondering how this small, chipper pixie always seemed to get her way.

"I played on Mrs. Goff's emotional side, told her that I felt so very worried about Tanya, asking her if I could go and see if she was alright." Alice answered with a smirk on her face.

"Of course." I muttered in disbelief.

"Now let's go find that nasty piece of work!" Alice said enthusiastically, using a tone as if she was a tour guide, taking us sightseeing in a foreign town.

"Where do you suggest we start, then?" Edward asked her.

"The parking lot. Like I said before, they're not very smart, not very original, and they're stupid enough to repeat their mistakes." Alice summarized while we started to walk in the general direction of the parking lot.

"You think they'll try to kill his Volvo? That would be stupid, he'll know when something is wrong." I said, remembering the warning lights that Edward had mentioned.

"Yes, but they're girls, like you, they don't know that. Think about it! It's the perfect opportunity as far as they're concerned, you and Edward will be in that car _together_, two for the price of one."

"And what if you're right? What are we going to do about it, it's their word against ours…" Edward asked, as our walking was gradually speeding up.

"If they are, in fact, trying to sabotage your car, then I'll use this!" Alice's tone was excited now, and she pulled something out of the pocket of her jacket.

"Good thinking, sis." Edward complimented her.

When I took a closer look I realized that it was a small, digital camera. "This will be the perfect evidence!" I exclaimed.

"That's what I thought, a picture says more than a thousand words." Alice replied, sounding very pleased with herself.

"Please, _please_ let them be doing something illegal." I wished out loud.

We all but ran out of the school building, towards the parking lot.

"Quiet now." Alice warned us, when the first cars came into sight.

We were sneaking around the parked cars when suddenly, Alice pulled both me and Edward behind an old, white Ford.

"Will you look at that, I knew it!" She hissed triumphantly, pointing at something.

The three of us sneaked a look around the front of the Ford and we spotted Edward's car. Kneeling next to it were Tanya and Lauren. Lauren handed Tanya a bag, en she started to search it for something.

"Excellent! Take the picture, Alice!" Edward said, sounding as relieved as I felt.

"Go get them, girl!" I encouraged her.

She smirked before swiftly jumping to her feet and storming towards the Volvo.

"Say cheese!" I heard her yell.

Edward and I got up, too, and we watched the shocked expressions on their faces when Alice snapped a picture. And another one, and another one. We walked up to the silver car and we heard Tanya curse loudly.

Alice turned around to throw a grin at us and she sighed dramatically. "These people are very busted, aren't they?" She asked in a mock serious tone.

I nodded. "Yep, no doubt about it."

"Mind your own business!" Lauren sneered at us.

"Yeah well, this is something involving my brother and my best friend, so I think this is obviously my business." Alice stated.

"So, did you guys already kill my car or can I save myself a trip to the mechanic?" Edward asked. "I'll find out anyway, so you might as well tell me." He added when Tanya and Lauren both remained silent, scowling at us.

"I'm not telling you anything." Tanya spat at him.

He just shrugged. "Fine then."

"Well, I'm going to show this to chief Swan, and then I'm sure that there will be a happy ending, at least, for _us_." Alice said cheerfully, holding up the camera.

Lauren and Tanya exchanged a quick look before Tanya stepped closer to Alice. "Give me that camera, you bitch!" She snapped at Alice.

Alice placed one hand over her mouth, faking a shocked expression. "Did you just call me a bitch?" She questioned.

"You bet I did, now hand it over!" Tanya demanded.

"No one. Calls. Me. A. Bitch. Hold this, Bella." I frowned when Alice pushed the camera into my hands.

Before I knew what was happening she threw herself at Tanya, who tumbled to the ground. The two girls were rolling around the dirty floor, trying to hit each other repeatedly.

"Alice, no! We've got the picture, that's enough." Edward called in a loud voice.

"Who cares! She called me a bitch." Alice breathed, moving her head just in time to avoid one of Tanya's fists.

"Lauren, don't just stand there! Help me!" Tanya panted.

"Right." Lauren muttered, making a face, probably afraid to break a nail.

She hesitated for a moment, before throwing herself on top of Alice and Tanya.

"That's not fair, two against one!" I stated the obvious. "Hold this, Edward." I said, handing him the digital camera.

"No way, hold it right there, princess!" He warned me, wrapping his arms around me, restraining me. "Your ribs aren't even healed, yet, you're not joining this useless girl-fight. Promise me that you won't do anything stupid, then I'll let go of you, and I'll try to pull them apart, deal?" He offered.

"Fine!" I grumbled, giving in.

He gave the camera back to me, and mingled himself in the bitch fight, trying to pull Alice away from the bimbos, while at the same time trying to avoid all the kicks and hits they were giving each other.

"HEY! What is going on here?" I literally jumped up when a loud voice sounded from behind me.

Uh oh, busted, the principal was sprinting our way. "Principal Greene! Hi, this is… not what it looks like." I used the most common sentence in the history of making excuses, as soon as he came to a stop next to me.

The fight still continued, none of them even noticing Mr. Greene.

He took a deep breath before yelling again, even louder this time. "Stop that! Right now!"

This time he had more success, the four of them froze, looking up at the angry face of the principal. Edward was holding Alice, in the middle of his attempt to get her away from the girls. Tanya was holding on to Alice's ankles, sitting half on top of Lauren who let out a small groan. If this wasn't so serious, it would've been funny.

"Someone explain this to me, now." Principal Greene ordered in a flat tone.

"She called me a bitch!" Alice muttered, pointing at Tanya.

Mr. Greene frowned, an incredulous look on his face. "That's all?"

I decided that it was time to clear this up. "Yes that, and the fact that we caught them while they were trying to cut Edward's brake lines, just like they did with mine, three weeks ago." I gave a short explanation.

Mr. Greene gaped at me. "They really did that?" He asked in shock, gesturing to Tanya and Lauren. "Are you absolutely sure, because that is a very serious accusation."

"Positive." I replied, handing him the camera. "See for yourself, sir, and look in that bag." I pointed at the long forgotten bag lying next to the front tire. "I'm sure there is some sort of very useful tool in there to damage the brake lines. I wouldn't know, though, I'm just a girl."

He picked up the bag, pulling out a pincer and holding it up. Tanya and Lauren were not taking their angry eyes off of me the entire time. "Right." He mumbled, lightly shaking his head. "This is out of my hands, I'm going to inform the police."

Alice snorted and I grinned at her.

"Alright, let's get up, all of you. Mr. Cullen and Miss Swan, I assume that you both want to press charges?" Mr. Greene asked.

"You bet we do." Edward answered immediately, getting up and helping Alice up, all the while glaring at Tanya and Lauren.

Lauren looked beaten but Tanya tried to keep up her arrogant charade, getting up slowly, holding her head up high. But of course she knew perfectly well how this was going to end, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Hey, you guys!" Alice chirped. "You know what this means? I feel so much better about myself, I'm not a liar, I am _psychic_!"

"Sure you are." Edward teased her. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, I told Mr. Banner that we were going to see the principal, and guess what, we are seeing him at this very moment!" She announced proudly.

Edward and I burst out into laughter, and I swore I even saw Mr. Greene's mouth turn up slightly.

Without thinking I hugged her and messed up her spiky hair. "You may not be a psychic, but you are a genius and a life saver. Thank you." I said sincerely.

"Anytime, Bella. Anytime..." She replied, lightly patting my back.

Mr. Greene interrupted our little moment with a small cough. "I suggest all of you come with me to my office now, I'll contact the police and we'll go from there…"

* * *

_Thank you for reading! New update soon. :D_


	19. Finally Free

_Hey dear readers! :D_

_Thank you for reviewing; _**Lill miss bella cullen, LisaCA, Jess, Mmakkii, Elissa, Porcelain-Shadow, Jrow1107, Gnomegirl13, Abi Cullen, J5girl31012, AutumnOtts, FRK921, Lauren, AlwaysYoursScincerely, LoveTeamEdward, Jm1708, RangerRainbow **_and_** JustBecca-x! **_:D_

_Did I mention how happy you all make me? :p Free digital brownies for everyone. xD  
And also… an Edward, Emmett and Jasper for Porcelain-Shadow to play with (xD), and an Edward for Jm1708!_

_To Jess: Wow you're right, nearly 300 reviews! That proves how great you guys are! :D_

_To Porcelain-Shadow: Nope, sorry, no coma for the bad guys. xD_

_To AutumnOtts: I think I might need to move to a bigger house, to store all those planets and moons. xD_

_To Lauren: Aaahw, well don't worry about that, think of yourself as the living proof that there are also nice Laurens. ;)_

_To AlwaysYoursScincerely: Yeah, computers die all the time, that's what they do best! xD But thank you! __And yay, I'm a celebrity now. 8)_

_To LoveTeamEdward: Haha, je boft, er komt namelijk sowieso nog meer Edward/Bella fluff in de laatste twee hoofdstukken! :p_

_To Jm1708: Aahw, thank you. But you know, I already have more readers and reviewers than I could ever hope for!_

_To RangerRainbow: Wow, that is one awesome present! :O Thank you! :D_

_Alright, chapter 19… I don't know if anyone saw this coming, or expected this. (Except me, I knew it from the time I started writing the first chapter. xD) Enjoy! _

* * *

**Finally Free**

Charlie was out fishing, and Edward and I were hanging on the couch at my place, watching some lame movie on TV. It was one of those lazy Sundays when you didn't feel like doing anything productive, simply content to spend the day close to the one you loved. A few days ago, Tanya and Lauren had been arrested, and I had felt light and relieved ever since. They were probably in a smelly prison cell at this very moment, and I snorted at that thought.

"Care to share, sweetheart?" He asked in his silky voice, my snort hadn't escaped his attention.

"Hmm, I was thinking about what Tanya and Lauren are doing at the moment."

He laughed and pulled me closer to him, lifting me into his lap. "Whatever it is they are doing, I'm positive that it isn't nearly as comfortable as this." He said, wrapping his arms around me and holding me impossibly close to him.

"That's true." I agreed, bringing one of my hands up to his lovely face and stroking his cheek, before moving on to trace the rest of his flawless features.

I traced his smooth lips and they parted slightly under my fingertips. He wrapped his hand around mine, pressing a kiss into my palm. He let go and cupped my jaw in his hand, staring intently into my eyes, his own eyes almost a liquid green. I was asking myself if it was just me, or if he was in fact really getting more beautiful every day.

"Kiss me, Edward." I whispered.

"I'm not sure if I can do that." He replied teasingly, the hint of a smile around his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh I think you can, you're actually really good at it."

"Am I, now?" He purred, leaning in and softly placing a kiss against my jaw. "Did you want me to kiss you _here_?" He asked, pulling back.

I glared at him. "No."

"Hmm, not there." He mused, leaning in again and pressing a kiss against my cheek. "How about _here_?"

"You're such a tease." I complained.

He swiftly leaned in again, placing his lips against the corner of my mouth. "Am I getting closer?" He whispered against my skin.

"Y-yes." I managed to choke out.

He moved those wonderful lips at a teasingly slow pace until they finally were where I wanted them to be, fully pressed against mine. My hands moved into his soft hair, as if I still felt an urge to press him even closer. I gasped when his tongue traced my bottom lip, and I felt him smirk against my lips. My heart was working overtime and my breathing became ragged.

Out of nowhere the doorbell rang, pulling us back to reality, and I cursed out loud, causing Edward to laugh lightly.

"Stupid killer of joy! Do I have to answer that?" I wondered out loud in an annoyed tone.

"Oh I don't know, maybe if you wait long enough, the door will answer itself." Edward replied sarcastically.

I groaned, reluctantly crawling out of his lap and getting up. "Don't move an inch!" I warned him.

"I wouldn't dare, love."

I was still silently cursing the person who had interrupted us when I walked into the small hallway. _This better be good_, I thought to myself. I opened the door, ready to rant at whoever was standing in front of it, when my jaw dropped to the floor. I had expected a lot of things, but never in a hundred years had I expected this.

"Mom?" I managed to choke out in a small voice as I took in the wary face of my mother.

She looked horrible. Too skinny, unhealthy, her brown hair dull and messy, her eyes almost lifeless.

"Hello sweetheart…" Her voice sounded weak and unsure.

"Mom, I've missed you so much!" I launched myself at her, and she tentatively put her arms around me. I couldn't stop myself from crying, and I could hear that she was doing the same. Loud sobs kept escaping me, as we were standing there in the doorway, clinging to each other.

"Bella? Is everything alright?" Edward's voice came from behind me, sounding concerned. He probably came to check out why I was crying like a baby.

I slowly pulled away from my mother, giving him a watery smile. "This is my mother, Edward." I explained, feeling a little shaky.

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but then he nodded, understanding that this was a big deal.

Renée hesitantly smiled at Edward. "It's nice to meet you, Edward. Are you a friend of Bella's?"

"Actually… he's my boyfriend, mom." I muttered, unable to prevent myself from blushing a little.

"Ah, I see. It's nice to meet you, Edward." Renée said warmly.

Edward gave her one of his charming smiles, shaking her hand. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Would you… like to come in?" I asked her, gesturing to the kitchen.

"Sure, I came to talk to you, actually." She admitted.

"I'll go then." Edward said, giving me a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you two have lots of catching up to do."

"You don't mind?" I felt a little guilty for ending our day together.

"Not at all, I'll see you later." He said, kissing my forehead. He nodded at Renée. "It was very nice meeting you."

She smiled at him. "Yes, see you later."

I led my mother into the kitchen, and she sat down at the small table, a million emotions clearly visible on her tired-looking face.

"Would you like some… coffee?" I asked quietly.

She nodded almost invisibly. "I would love that."

There was an awkward silence while I made her coffee, and I still didn't know what to say when I placed the mug on the table, sitting down across from her.

To my immense relief, she started the conversation. "Listen Bella, I'm so sorry for showing up like this, unannounced." She apologized.

"That's fine, mom, I'm just so glad to see you, I've missed you."

She sighed. "I've missed you, too, honey. I can't even tell you how much…"

I nodded before dropping my eyes, staring at my hands. I was gathering some courage to ask her the one question that had been floating through my head since the moment I had found her standing at my front door.

"So how's Phil?" I muttered after a short silence.

She reached over the table to take one of my hands in hers and she slowly shook her head. "I've been so blind, Bella. I've been so stupid, I don't know if I can ever make it up to you… I left Phil… I couldn't do it anymore. We're getting a divorce… something I should've done eight years ago."

I couldn't deny the relief I felt at this new information, but I also felt sorry for her.

"You were in love." I said, squeezing her hand, trying to take away some of the guilt she was probably feeling.

At least I could understand her better, now that I had a fairly good idea what love actually meant. What if she'd truly loved Phil, through it all. What if she'd felt the same way about Phil as I felt about Edward? Of course it was a whole different situation; I was sure that Edward would never hurt me in any way. But still, Renée's feelings could've been similar to mine, and I guessed that her feelings for Phil could've made it difficult for her to leave him.

"Still, that's no excuse… You're my baby, Bella. I should've done what was best for you… what was best for myself. God, you've tried to convince me a million times to leave him, leave everything behind and start over. And I didn't listen, still hoping that things would turn out alright in the end, even when it was obvious that they never would…"

"It's alright, mom. I feel guilty, too." I confessed.

She gave me an incredulous look. "Why on earth would you feel guilty, honey?"

I shrugged, looking at my hands again. "For being a coward, for making my escape to live with Charlie… For leaving you alone with… Phil. I knew what he was doing to you, and I just ran off to save my own ass."

"Bella, you have no idea how glad I am that you went to live with Charlie. I knew I didn't have the strength to leave Phil, but I wanted so much better for you, honey. I was so relieved the day you told me you wanted to live with your dad." Her voice was gentle and sincere.

"Regardless, I felt bad about it for a long time… I still do." I admitted.

"Don't… I'm happy you've created your own life."

We were both silent for a moment, just staring at each other, trying to take in this bizarre situation.

"Have you ever… told Charlie about all this? Have you ever told anyone, for that matter?" Renée suddenly broke the silence.

"I've never told Charlie the real reason why I've moved in with him… The only person I've ever told is Edward." I answered honestly.

To my surprise, a smile broke across my mother's face. "Yes, your Edward is quite charming... So what's up with you two? Do you… like him?" She asked.

"I like him… a lot, mom."

She grinned. "Yes I figured, seeing as you even told him about your life back in Phoenix."

"Yeah well… this is going to sound cheesy, but I have a feeling that Edward is the one, if you know what I mean." I blurted out.

"Then I'm glad you've found him."

"Me too… Edward has helped me a lot to get my life back on track again." I said, automatically smiling, remembering the last few months of my life.

Renée laughed softly. "I guess I owe him, then."

"That makes two of us." I joked. "Would you like some more coffee?"

"Sure." She said, handing me her empty mug.

"So, how long are you staying?" I asked curiously while pouring her another cup of coffee.

"Well, for now I'm staying in a hotel in Port Angeles, but I'm looking for a small apartment in the area around Forks… I have nothing left in Phoenix anymore, and I would like to see my daughter more often." She looked up at me, gauging my reaction.

"Really? That would be fantastic, mom!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. "But you hate Forks…" I added, recalling why she had left this town in the first place, fifteen years ago.

"I'm sure I can get used to the rain, it's more than worth it if I can spend some time with my daughter." She assured me.

"Thank you so much." I walked over to her side of the table to give her another hug.

After that, we talked for a while, and Renée wanted to know everything about my life in Forks. I decided to tell her about Edward and Alice, my school results, and the story that I was writing, keeping out any parts including the evil girls. We both had heard enough drama for today, I would tell her about that later...

xxx

"So… I'll see you soon?" I asked when Renée and I were standing at the front door, saying our goodbyes.

"You definitely will. I'll visit again in a few days." She promised, giving me a genuine smile. Some of the light seemed to have returned in her light brown eyes.

I smiled widely. "Great! In the meantime, I'll prepare Charlie."

"You do that! Take care, sweetie, I'll see you soon." She said, giving me one last hug.

I waved at her as she drove off in her small, beat-up old Fiat, and I had a lot of mingled feelings while I slammed the front door shut. I did feel sorry for her, after all she would have to start all over again. So many years of her life had been thrown away…

On the other hand, Phil would never have changed, not after ten years of violence, and I came to the conclusion that this was for the better... Because after all these years, she was finally free.

* * *

_Thank you for reading! I won't have much time to write tomorrow, so I'm guessing the last part will be up Sunday! Maybe earlier, we'll see. ;)_


	20. Epilogue

_Hey everyone! :D_

_Thank you very much for reviewing; _**Porcelain-Shadow, RangerRainbow, Jess, Jm1708, AlwaysYoursScincerely, Gnomegirl13, TwiLust, Raybanlover, Sonea91, Jrow1107, AutumnOtts, J5girl31012, Lauren, FRK921, Jules, LisaCA, Earth-fairy2006 **_and_** Nickyblueeyes913! **_:D_

_So I borrowed this great idea from AutumnOtts, since I already have an entire solar system by now, I'm giving all of you __gemstone stars set in platinum__ today! :D  
And also, a teasing Edward for Porcelain-Shadow! xD_

_To Jess: Yay, when I started this story, I would never have believed that I would reach 300 reviews, so this is pretty awesome! :D I have the best reviewers in the world! 8)_

_To TwiLust: Katie and Jessica didn't get arrested, because they didn't have anything to do with the cutting of the brake lines. They're just a couple of bitches trying to fit into the popular group. Unfortunately, you can't arrest someone for being a bitch. xD But after everything that happened, I'm pretty sure that they will keep themselves quiet. ;) Besides, the two of them won't be a match for the new Cullen/Hale/Swan group. :p_

_To Jules: No, I'm afraid there isn't going to be a sequel to this story, since there's really nothing left to the storyline now that it is finished. _

_So here it is, this is really the last part. :'( I'm sort of sad, at the moment. *Sniff*_

_Jasper will make a short appearance in this chapter, since a lot of you requested it… other than that, just some fluff to wrap up the story, read and enjoy! And keep reading at the end of the chapter, to see me talking sentimental crap at you guys, like I usually do at the end of my stories! xD_

* * *

**Epilogue**

_One month later…_

I always had some trouble finding the well hidden turnoff to the Cullen house, but in the daylight, I did manage to find it. It was Saturday, and I had just finished my chores and now I was bored, so I decided to go to Edward's place. I already hadn't seen him for sixteen hours, and that was way too long. Yes, I was counting, and I knew how pathetic it was.

I also wanted to wish Alice good luck, because this was a big day for her. The one and only Jasper Hale had asked her out on a lunch date. A few weeks ago, Rose had introduced her twin brother to Alice, and the two of them had been practically inseparable since that moment. At first, Alice was a bit scared that Jasper only liked her as a good friend, and she obviously wanted them to be much more than just friends. That's why she had been ecstatic when he had finally asked her out on a real date, two days ago. She hadn't stopped talking about it, and I was hoping that things were going to work out for the two of them; Alice definitely deserved it.

I was in a cheerful mood as I drove along the small, unpaved road, feeling genuinely happy. Yesterday I had visited my mom for the first time in her new apartment, only a five minute drive away from Charlie's place. It felt so good, being able to visit her whenever I wanted, we could finally spend some time together after all these years.

The huge Cullen mansion came into sight, and I spotted Edward who was outside, washing his shiny Volvo that was parked in front of the big, white house. He looked up, seeing as the noise that my old truck made was hard to miss, and he smiled brightly at me.

I parked the car, and before I could even think about getting out, he was there to open the door for me, the smile never leaving his face.

"Someone's happy to see me." I concluded in a teasing tone.

"Like you aren't thrilled to see me, love." He replied, holding out his hand so I could take it.

"Hmm yeah, maybe you're right." I admitted, jumping into his arms and burying my face in his shoulder, locking my arms tightly around him.

"Perhaps you should go see Alice, Jasper will be here in fifteen minutes and she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Edward suggested, his lips at my ear.

"Right, Alice." I muttered, reluctantly letting go of my too-good-looking boyfriend.

He chuckled lightly, kissing my cheek before making his way back to his car. "I'll finish this quickly and then we can do something fun together." He promised, calling over his shoulder.

I grinned at him. I didn't care what we did this afternoon, for all I cared we were going to clean toilets, as long as Edward and I were together, everything was fine with me.

I walked up the porch steps, and just as I wanted to grab the doorknob, the door flew open and Alice literally bounced out of the house.

"Bella! What do you think about this dress? Is it alright? Do you think Jasper will like it?" She blurted out, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me back and forth, as if she was expecting that the shaking would stimulate my brain to come up with an answer that would solve all her problems in a flash.

"The dress looks wonderful Alice, you look perfect." I assured her as soon as she stopped shaking me, so I had a chance to take in what she was wearing.

"Are you sure?" She pressed.

"Yes! Besides, something tells me that Jasper would still think that you're beautiful if you showed up wearing a garbage bag." I informed her with a smirk.

"You're such an optimist." She huffed.

"So sue me." I shot at her.

Our little argument was interrupted when we heard the engine of a car.

"Oh god no, there he is!" Alice sounded panicked.

"Alice… you've talked to him a million times, you guys are friends… I'm sure it's going to be great." I encouraged her.

She swallowed visibly as we both watched Jasper, who parked his car next to my truck. He got out, and slowly walked in our direction. Alice was holding on to my hand, nearly crushing it.

"Good afternoon, ladies!" Jasper greeted us as he walked up the porch steps.

"Hey Jasper!" I said cheerfully, pulling my hand free and poking Alice in the ribs to bring her out of her trance.

"H-Hi!" She answered in a reflex.

Jasper grinned at her, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. "Ready to go?" He asked.

I think Alice was very close to fainting, but she put on a brave face and nodded. "Sure." She squeaked.

"I'll see you later, Bella." Jasper said, winking at me.

I snorted, lightly shaking my head, Alice's expression was similar to one that a small child would have when getting a new toy.

"See you guys." I told them.

Jasper led Alice to his car and helped her in, and I noticed how Alice shot me one last look that clearly meant 'wow'.

I was still laughing to myself when I made my way back to Edward, who was currently attacking his Volvo with a garden hose.

"You know what, Edward, I think that Alice and Jas…" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence. Edward hadn't noticed me walking up to him and his head snapped up in surprise as he turned to face me, accidently also pointing the garden hose at me. As soon as he realized what was happening he swiftly pointed it back at the car, but I was already soaked by then.

"Gross, Edward." I complained.

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. "I'm so, so sorry, love." He apologized, trying to keep his face straight.

I threw him a glare. "Sure you are… You're going to be even more sorry after _this_!"

Without a warning I launched myself at him, taking the garden hose from him and holding it over his head.

"Bella! Stop it!" He yelled playfully, running away from me.

I followed him, making sure that he was as soaked as I was, but then he suddenly turned around, reaching out and taking the garden hose, turning it off.

"That wasn't nice! At least what I did was an accident." Edward muttered, running a hand through his dripping hair.

"Maybe now you'll pay more attention, next time!" I replied, making a face at him.

He grinned mischievously. "Yes, next time… I'll make sure to do it _on purpose_."

xxx

We were sitting on the dirty ground, next to the Volvo. The shiny car was covered in mud again, and so were Edward and I.

"So much for washing your car, huh?" I said, snuggling closer to him.

"Yes, I think I might need to start over." He mused, pulling me against his chest, holding me tightly.

He was soaking wet, but since I was drenched myself, it didn't matter, and I rested my head against his chest. I looked up at him, reaching out my hand to brush some of his messy hair out of his face. "I'll help you."

He raised one of his perfect eyebrows. "The same way that you helped me just now?" He asked sarcastically.

"That was your fault." I muttered.

Edward shrugged. "Doesn't matter, you still love me, even if it was my fault." He stated smugly.

"Maybe… if you still love me…"

"You know I do." He replied, his eyes were suddenly very serious. "You're the most important thing to me ever."

"Yes I know…" I trailed off, recalling the question that I had repeated in my head over and over again from the moment that Edward had confessed his love for me. "Why me, Edward?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Why what?" He asked, frowning in confusion.

"Why did you pick me? You could have had any girl you wanted when you arrived at Forks High, beautiful girls were standing in line for you…"

He smirked at me. "They were, but shallow as I am, I instantly picked the most beautiful of them all."

"That's lying." I mumbled, casting my eyes down.

He softly stroked my jaw line with his fingertips, before lifting my head so that I had no choice but to look at him. "No it isn't… No matter what everyone else thinks, no matter what _you_ think… to me you're the most beautiful girl in the world."

Insert annoying blush here. "So you only liked me because of my looks!" I challenged him.

"No." He answered right away. "At first I thought it was refreshing that you weren't throwing yourself at me, and I wanted to get to know you better… When I did, I found out that you are the smartest, sweetest, most perfect girl in the world, and it didn't take much to fall in love after that..."

"It doesn't even matter how it happened, I'm glad it did." I said, lifting my head up to place a brief kiss against his lips.

His lips turned up in a smile and he nodded. "Yeah me too… But I would like to ask you the same question… Why me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Other than the fact that you are the most perfect man in the world, inside and outside?" I asked.

"Well I was just wondering… you weren't letting anyone in, but for some reason I got through to you…"

I shrugged and shook my head. "I don't know why, Edward. I think no one really knows how love works. It's not exactly a science… But trust me when I tell you that I fell for the inside, not the outside."

He laughed lightly. "Excellent. It's good to know that you'll still love me when I'm old and ugly."

"Sure… just don't get _too_ ugly." I teased him. "After all, I have to admit that I thought you were beautiful, the first time I saw you."

"That's fine, I thought that _you_ were beautiful when I first saw you, I guess that means we're even."

"Yes…"

"I have another question for you." Edward said conversationally.

"What's that?"

"Do you still believe that love only exists in stories?" He asked in a serious tone, his emerald green eyes smoldering me.

"No, Edward… I believe that _you_ are the solid proof that it _does_ exist in real life." I whispered.

He smiled his crooked smile and leaned closer to me. "That's all I needed to hear." He was also whispering, closing the distance between us and touching his lips to mine.

I was in a state of pure bliss as our lips moved together; the muddy ground and the rain that started to pour down were both long forgotten.

A few months ago I would've never guessed that I could love this boy, who had turned my whole life upside down and had changed all my believes. But I could see now that my life had changed for the better. Because sometimes, reality was simply better than anything that your imagination could come up with...

* * *

_Yesterday, I believed in fairytales  
With all my heart  
And yesterday, I followed secret trails...  
Inside my heart_

_And I can't let this fall apart,  
I will not slip into their world,  
Cause in my silver sea,  
She's dancing with the mermaids,  
And in my star-lit sky,  
She's flying..._

_And in my garden green,  
She's flirting with the fairies  
Over the kingdom wall, she's climbing..._

_Higher... than they'll ever know  
Higher... than they'll ever know _

_Today I'm supposed to try to live beneath the clouds  
But I can't find my way down...  
Cause castles with wings, and dragons beyond dreams  
Keep my feet from the ground_

_And I can't let this tear me down,  
I will not slip into their world,  
Cause in my silver sea,  
She's dancing with the mermaids,  
And in my star-lit sky,  
She's flying…_

_And in my garden green,  
She's flirting with the fairies  
Over the kingdom wall, she's climbing..._

_Higher... than they'll ever know  
Higher... than they'll ever know  
Higher..._

'_**Mermaids' lyrics by Lily Holbrook from the album 'Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt'.**_

_If you're wondering about the 'Running Into Walls' song, the lyrics can be found in the last chapter of my other story 'While You Were Sleeping'. _

* * *

_I don't know what to say, other than, thank you all so much! Thanks to all of my reviewers, for giving me all the support and motivation that I needed. Thank you for putting up with this Dutch girl's crappy English. Thank you for sticking with me until the end of the story, I truly appreciate it!_

_Also, I know there are some of you who are sticking with me from the very beginning, when I uploaded my first story here. That means a great deal to me, knowing that you guys are not only liking this story in particular, but also my writing style. _

_And of course a big thank you to everyone who has read this story, or added it to their favorites!_

_Wow, look at me talking like I've won an Oscar or something like that. xD I know it's just fanfiction, and I'm not considering writing as a professional career, I know I'm not that good. xD I'll probably be stuck working in a flower store for the rest of my life, and ten years from now I'll still be flowergirl. xD But I do like this as a hobby, and all of you are making this hobby so much more fun! I love you all, you guys rock! :D *Hugs everyone*_

_So… what's up next… I honestly don't know yet. xD I will probably start a new story, no doubt about that. But first I have to come up with an idea that I like, so until that happens, keep checking my profile every now and then, to see what's going on. I'll update it as soon as I start working on something new!_

_See you at another story! :)  
_


	21. Author's Note

_Hey everyone! :D_

_I can't say anything other than: W-O-W! Thank you all so much, all the reviews and messages I got after I uploaded the last chapter made me smile! Big time. xD I love you all! I think I replied to all of your messages, I'm sorry if I forgot someone, my inbox is a permanent disaster area. xD_

_But that's not why I'm posting this annoying author's note. :p It's more like an announcement, to tell you all that I started working on a new story! It's soon, I know, but when an idea hits me, I just have to start writing. xD _

_So, this new story will be named '__**The Secret To Forever**__', and for a summary and updates on how the writing is going, you can check out my profile!_

_Thanks for all the support, guys!_

_x Shirley_


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